While you may not have tried this particular expression of Glenmorangie, you most probably have seen it. The Signet seems to be at every airport duty free shop I’ve been to. It is often encased in glass surrounded by black and golden decorations based on the pattern on the front label. It comes with a spiffy looking black box which to me screams “gift for Chinese business exec”. I am sure quite a few have been used for just that purpose.

What’s interesting about the Signet is that they used chocolate malt (a heavily roasted malt that is dark brown like chocolate) and “designer casks” from American oak. They also claim to have used some 30 year old whiskies from the time when they used to do their own floor maltings. A nice touch, but this is still a non-age statement whisky. At this point it seems like a lot of companies are using this marketting ploy of stating that some incredibly old and rare whiskies have gone into certain NAS expressions. What I wonder is how much of this was done for marketting purposes and how much for flavour. I suspect they don’t use that much from the old stock which would suggest that the implications on flavour are minimal at best. I am a skeptic at heart so I could very well be wrong here. Meh.

Disitllery: Glenmorangie Distillery

Age: NAS

ABV: 46%

Cask: Designer Casks

Price: ~£125 (£123.95 at Master of Malt)

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TheMadVatter

Nose

Orange blossom.  Portuguese custard pie. Sun tan lotion. California beach smell during crowded summers.

Taste

Gentle rose water sweetness. Bit of spice like a bit of licorice. Ginseng bitterness. Diluted caramel.

Finish

Aftertaste from eating a thin waffle ice cream cone. Last drops of caprisun. Ginseng tea.

Rating

8

Afterthoughts

I tried this particular expression in it’s adopted home, the Edinburgh airport duty free. AliceInWhiskyland was able to talk the shop attendendant into pouring us a taste. That being said, I drank this out of a small plastic cup after hurrying through airport security. So not the best state of mind for a tasting. I shall like very much to give this a proper tasting but from my rushed encounter with it, I found the expression to be pleasing and unoffensive. It seemed to have a bit of dignified complexity to it but I was really struggling with picking up the flavours. The bottle that it was poured from was not very full and may have been sitting out a bit so I would like to guess that some essence may have been lost due to oxidation. I can’t yet bring myself to buy a bottle due to it’s dear price (£130) but maybe I’ll find another sample again.

Image Source: Whisky Exchange Website