“Not My Chosen One”
Whisky Review # 663
Country: Scotland
Region: Northern Highlands
Brand: Glenmorangie The Taghta (Cask Master Selection)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: NAS
Age: NAS
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 46%
Maturation: Bourbon Casks with Manzanilla Cask Finish
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: US Dollars 110-140 (December 2017). Discontinued!
Buying Advice: 😏 Too expensive. Go for the Original 10 Years instead!
Maturation: Bourbon Casks with Manzanilla Cask Finish
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: US Dollars 110-140 (December 2017). Discontinued!
Buying Advice: 😏 Too expensive. Go for the Original 10 Years instead!
Colour: Golden Amber (Artificially Coloured)
Nose: Quite Light. On the Thin side actually. I pick up some Sulphur as well but it stays within limits. On the Nose, the Taghta is basically Sweet but there are some Sour and Meaty notes as well. Medium Sherry cask influence. Not more than a year I think. I find Malted Cereals, Toffee, Salted Caramel, Butterscotch, Vanilla, Nuts, Honey, Straw, Grass, Wax, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Sultanas, Banana and Apricot and traces of Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon, Yogurt topped with Unripe Strawberries, Orange Flavoured Milk Chocolate, Tinned Pineapple in Heavy Syrup and Leather. The Alcohol is not yet fully integrated.
Palate: The Delivery is okay thanks to the adequate ABV. Bitter-Sweet and Sour notes fight each other constantly. There's no real Harmony here. I find Toasted Cereals, Toffee, Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, Honey, Salted Nuts, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Sultanas and Apricot, Strawberry Flavoured Yogurt, Apple, Orange Flavoured Chocolate, Lemon Peel, Grapefruit Juice, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Charred Oak and traces of Leather and Sulphur. It's a relatively Young Whisky and it shows.
Finish: Middle-Long. Sweet at first but Sour, Tannic and Bitter notes develop towards the Dry end. I find Toasted Cereals, Toffee, Salted Caramel, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Sultanas and Apricot, Salted Nuts, Honey, Orange Flavoured Chocolate, Grapefruit, Lemon, Apple, Herbs, Pepper, Ginger and Clove. Traces of Leather, Charred Oak, Dark Greek Olives, Strawberry Flavoured Yogurt and Sulphur.
Drinking Advice:
I added a little Water and the Oranges shine even more on the Nose. It doesn't do a lot else though. Raisins and Oranges develop on the Palate as well. You can certainly experiment with a few drops of Water at a time.
Palate: The Delivery is okay thanks to the adequate ABV. Bitter-Sweet and Sour notes fight each other constantly. There's no real Harmony here. I find Toasted Cereals, Toffee, Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, Honey, Salted Nuts, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Sultanas and Apricot, Strawberry Flavoured Yogurt, Apple, Orange Flavoured Chocolate, Lemon Peel, Grapefruit Juice, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Charred Oak and traces of Leather and Sulphur. It's a relatively Young Whisky and it shows.
Finish: Middle-Long. Sweet at first but Sour, Tannic and Bitter notes develop towards the Dry end. I find Toasted Cereals, Toffee, Salted Caramel, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Sultanas and Apricot, Salted Nuts, Honey, Orange Flavoured Chocolate, Grapefruit, Lemon, Apple, Herbs, Pepper, Ginger and Clove. Traces of Leather, Charred Oak, Dark Greek Olives, Strawberry Flavoured Yogurt and Sulphur.
Drinking Advice:
I added a little Water and the Oranges shine even more on the Nose. It doesn't do a lot else though. Raisins and Oranges develop on the Palate as well. You can certainly experiment with a few drops of Water at a time.
Rating: 83.5
Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21
General Remarks:
General Remarks:
🏣 The Distillery and Today's Whisky:
The production at this Tain based Distillery started in November 1849. By the end of the 1930's the McDonald family took control of Glenmorangie. They only sold the distillery to Vuitton/Moet Hennessy in 2004. Since 1994, Glenmorangie has been very actively experimenting with different Wood Finishes. The current core range includes the Original 10 Years, the 18 years, the Signet and three 12 Year old Wood Finishes i.e. the Quinta Ruban (Port), the Lasanta (Sherry) and the Nectar d' Or (Sauternes). In the last years however, Glenmorangie launched a large number of Special editions and Travel Retail specials. Currently, around 5,5 million litres of Spirit are produced. We visited the distillery in May 2017. The whole place looks impeccable and the Still House (Cathedral), VC and Shop are a true feast to the eye. It's almost a bit too polished for my taste. It's really the complete opposite of a visit to Springbank in Campbeltown. And, to be honest, I prefer the latter!
The Taghta (pronounced as Tuh-Tah) is Gaelic for "The Chosen One". A perfect name for the first Crowd-Managed Single Malt. The Name, the Label Design and the Finishing Cask were chosen by the Cask Masters, a group of loyal distillery fans. It was launched in 2013 as a limited edition and a total of 12.000 bottles was released. Many of those bottles of course went to those who helped create this Single Malt.
Visit May 2017
🍷 The Spirit:
The distillery operates six pairs of Stills, beautifully lined up in the Cathedral Still House. The Lyne arms are partly straight or with a slightly upwards angle. The stills are the tallest ones in Scotland. They produce a Sweet, light-bodied spirit with Floral, Nutty and Citrus notes. Water is sourced from the Tarlogie Spring.
🌲 The Wood:
The Taghta was firstly matured in Ex-Bourbon casks for a number of years as is standard procedure at Glenmorangie. The spirit then received a Finish in Ex-Manzanilla Sherry casks from the Bodega Alegro Sanlucar de Barrameda. The Manzanilla is in fact a Fino Sherry produced in and around Sanlucar. As this town is closer to the sea than Jerez, the Manzanilla from Sanlucar usually has some salty tones.
Drinking Experience: Good but nothing special.
Conclusion: The Taghta is not a bad Glenmorangie and the Salty notes do set it apart from other limited editions as presented by this Highland Distillery. On the other hand I can't deny the fact that we are talking about a relatively young whisky here. Probably around 8 years + the additional Manzanilla Finish. So in fact it's basically a slightly younger Original 10 Years with a fancy Finish. That's okay of course but for the fact that you pay double or even triple the price of the 10 Years. And that does not make sense. The Taghta is a nice initiative but it is overpriced for what it offers. Something we encounter too often in today's Single Malt market. So while the Taghta is okay I can't recommend buying a full bottle. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you like young Glenmorangie you are perfectly okay with the Original 10 Years!
Visit May 2017(Not a Cask but certainly a well-matured "Vehicle")
🌲 The Wood:
The Taghta was firstly matured in Ex-Bourbon casks for a number of years as is standard procedure at Glenmorangie. The spirit then received a Finish in Ex-Manzanilla Sherry casks from the Bodega Alegro Sanlucar de Barrameda. The Manzanilla is in fact a Fino Sherry produced in and around Sanlucar. As this town is closer to the sea than Jerez, the Manzanilla from Sanlucar usually has some salty tones.
Drinking Experience: Good but nothing special.
Conclusion: The Taghta is not a bad Glenmorangie and the Salty notes do set it apart from other limited editions as presented by this Highland Distillery. On the other hand I can't deny the fact that we are talking about a relatively young whisky here. Probably around 8 years + the additional Manzanilla Finish. So in fact it's basically a slightly younger Original 10 Years with a fancy Finish. That's okay of course but for the fact that you pay double or even triple the price of the 10 Years. And that does not make sense. The Taghta is a nice initiative but it is overpriced for what it offers. Something we encounter too often in today's Single Malt market. So while the Taghta is okay I can't recommend buying a full bottle. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you like young Glenmorangie you are perfectly okay with the Original 10 Years!
Jan van den Ende December 7, 2017
Visit May 2017
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