GLENMORANGIE LAUNCH EXQUISITE VINTAGE COLLECTION
Glenmorangie is proud to announce the launch of the Distillery’s new vintage collection, Bond House No. 1. This exclusive collection of limited releases explores the origins of Glenmorangie’s most prestigious reserves of aged whisky, each distilled in a single year. The inaugural expression, Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990, tells its own story of an extraordinary spirit which emerged, against all odds, from the most challenging harvest in living memory.
Glenmorangie’s Bond House No. 1 series showcases the individuality of the Distillery’s most complex and elegant vintage malts. Fittingly, the collection takes its name from the largest of Glenmorangie’s 19th century bonded warehouses. Warehouse No. 1 was home to the Distillery’s casks of maturing spirit. But in 1990, as Glenmorangie sought to meet growing demand, its role was to change entirely. Bonded warehouse No. 1 was transformed into a majestic new still house, home to Glenmorangie’s signature copper stills, renowned as the tallest in Scotland. Their stature ensures the vapours travel the long distance to the top, for a smoother, more elegant spirit. Today, Bonded Warehouse No. 1 is the heart of the Distillery’s whisky creation – revered as Glenmorangie’s Highland cathedral.
Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 marks this year of change at the Distillery, also memorable for another reason. The barley harvest from the previous summer proved problematic for whisky makers in 1990. It was hard to process and only through mastery and great craftsmanship, was Glenmorangie able to create even a small amount of new-make spirit. Against the odds – and to the delight of its creators – this spirit proved sublime. Sensing its potential, the Distillery carefully nurtured the spirit for 25 years in selected ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks. The resulting creation, Grand Vintage Malt 1990, is a whisky defined by its elegance, and overflowing with floral and fruity aromas.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, said: “The Bond House No. 1 collection gives connoisseurs a unique opportunity to explore the individuality each year has lent our award-winning spirit. I’m delighted that Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 will launch the collection. Even today, few can explain how a spirit so delicious could emerge from a barley crop of such challenges. Combined with a quarter-century of Glenmorangie’s exceptional cask expertise, its finesse and vibrancy has been preserved through the ages, to create a whisky brimming with aromas of heather honey, mandarin and candied fruits and tastes of orange syrup and vanilla, zesty, herbal top notes, baked apples and brown sugar.”
Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 is bottled at 43% ABV. Priced at £495 it is now available from selected whisky specialist retailers.
NOTES:
Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 tasting notes:
Colour: Deep gold.
Nose: The aroma is a veritable cornucopia of heady floral and fruity notes; heather honey, honeysuckle and freesia mingled with orange blossom, candied fruits, mandarin, pear and apple. This complex bouquet is supplemented by a pungent, distinctive note of beeswax.
Taste: The mouthfeel is silky, creamy and mouth coating, delightfully mellow and gentle. This leads into succulent, sweet flavours of orange syrup, puff candy, honeycomb, vanilla, and some zesty, herbal top notes of gooseberry and menthol.
Finish: The fruitiness continues with baked apples and pears, then there are some deeper notes of brown sugar, malty/biscuit flavours and the gentlest hint of clove and oak tannin on the finish.
About the Bond House No. 1 Collection:
The Bond House No. 1 Collection is an exclusive collection of vintage expressions, all exceptionally smooth, complex and elegant. The collection, which celebrates Glenmorangie’s most prestigious aged whisky, has been created for connoisseurs and collectors. Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990 is the first release in the collection.
About Glenmorangie:
Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch Whisky originates in the Scottish Highlands where, at
the Glenmorangie Distillery, it is distilled in the tallest malt whisky stills in Scotland for a purer spirit, expertly matured in the finest oak casks for great depth, and perfected by the Men of Tain. The Distillery was founded in 1843 and is renowned as a pioneer in its field, uniting tradition with innovation.
About Warehouse No. 1:
Warehouse No. 1 was the largest of the traditional 19th century Bonded Warehouses at the Glenmorangie Distillery, with a capacity of up to 2,000 casks. It was unusually tall, with three storeys. In 1990, Warehouse No. 1 was transformed into the Distillery’s still house, allowing Glenmorangie to meet the surging demand for its finest single malt from whisky aficionados around the world. As the very heart of the Distillery, this majestic building became home to eight of Glenmorangie’s signature tall stills – twice as many as its predecessor had housed. The exceptional height of the building and of Glenmorangie’s stills – renowned as the tallest stills in Scotland – has led it to be known fondly as Glenmorangie’s Highland cathedral. Today, there are 12 stills. The former still house, which had been in operation since 1877 when the Distillery was rebuilt, continues to play a part in Glenmorangie’s story. Each year, it welcomes visitors from across the world, in its new role as the Distillery Visitor Centre’s museum.
About the distilling challenges of 1990:
The harvest from 1989 resulted in a widely varying barley crop, which meant that malt was very hard to process through distilleries in 1990, especially in the milling and mashing stages. The processing problems resulted in many stoppages, which prevented most distilleries in Scotland from achieving their original production targets. Despite these challenges, the quality of the new-make spirit at Glenmorangie was among the best ever tasted. Combined with Glenmorangie’s exceptional wood management techniques over the decades, the resulting expression, Glenmorangie Grand Vintage Malt 1990, is one of the most exquisite ever to emerge from the Distillery.