Glenmorangie "Year of the Tiger" 23 Year Old [Tasted #561]

In my tasting notes for the Glenmorangie Truffle Oak 26 Year Old last year, I mentioned how certain Glenmorangie releases tend to fly under the radar - marketed to existing private clients on a more personalised level, rather than having them plastered all over social media and the blogs. When you're talking about releases of <1000 bottles (often for not-insignificant sums of money) it's a perfectly sensible approach.

...but it does mean that those of us in the whisky blogosphere often don't get to experience them...except when we do! I was fortunate enough to try the Truffle Oak last year (it was incredible), and recently was equally lucky to try Glenmorangie's next limited release - "Year of the Tiger" 23yo. 

Distilled in 1998 (also Year of the Tiger), and aged in a “marriage of Bourbon and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks”, only 888 bottles were released at 46%. The (natural) colour looked pretty inviting, and with its PX credentials I was expecting a fairly sweet dram...but was I right? Let's find out...

Glenmorangie "Year of the Tiger" 23 Year Old (46% ABV, 23yo, Highlands, Scotland)
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Colour: Burnished copper.

Nose: Rich demerara sugar and oranges - specifically flamed orange peel. Vietnamese coffee, toffee and hints of sweet spice.

Palate: Big PX hit initially - sweet and zesty, and hugely rich. There's maple, an earthy sweetness (think rich toffee fudge with streaks of dark chocolate throughout), super viscous, gooey caramel, nutty but still with that orange zest throughout.

Finish: Long, gooey caramel and residual sweet spices.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. A delicious Glenmo, but for my palate, not up there with Truffle Oak.

Cheers,

Martin.

Tasted #560: Spiritus' 1983 Jean-Luc Pasquet Petite-Champagne 38yo Cognac

We don't feature a lot of Cognac on the site (what with being "Time for Whisky" and all..) but on the odd occasion we do, it's usually something pretty special - single cask, independently-bottled, etc... 

So upon hearing about Spiritus, a new Hong Kong-based independent bottler of Cognac, it's fair to say my interest was piqued - doubly so as the people behind Spiritus are known and well-respected members of the local whisky community.

Spiritus' first release saw them bottle a single cask Petite Champagne Cognac from Jean-Luc Pasquet, distilled in 1983 and bottled in Sept 2021 at 38 years old. Single cask Cognac from Jean-Luc Pasquet seems to be popular amongst whisky lovers, with Old Master Spirits (in Australia) and Wu Dram Clan (in Europe) also bottling casks I've written about recently. I enjoyed all of those, so was keen to see how this 1983 fared (especially being a birth vintage for me)!

Spiritus Jean Luc Pasquet Petite Champagne Cognac 1983-2021 (50.7% ABV, 38yo, France, $1,580HKD)
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Colour: Deep orange copper.

Nose: Super fruity - peach, stewed pears, kiwi and strawberry. Some furniture polish, followed by freshly ground coffee and puff pastry (I mean, "croissants" would just seem too obvious right?)

Palate: Follows the nose but adds plums and white grapes, leather, and some oak but balanced nicely. Milk chocolate and a slight savoury note round things out.

Finish: Medium in length, with some residual tropical notes and earl grey tea towards the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. A fantastic first bottling!

A big thanks to Spiritus for the sample. If this is a taste of things to come, we can't wait to see what the future holds (and we shouldn't have to wait too long, as the next release has already been announced - this time a 1971 50yo Grand Champagne Cognac).

Cheers,

Martin.