Last Monday members of USBG NY and NJ were invited to taste and learn directly from David Blackmore -Whisk(e)y Ambassador Team Lead & Global Brand Ambassador, Ardbeg and Glenmorangie and the newly appointed Keeper of the Quaich board member – the ins and outs of 4 core tastings from Ardbeg and Glenmorangie, 2 extremely different distilleries sitting under one ownership in Moet Hennessy. They say siblings grow up as 180 degrees of one another and Ardbeg and Glenmorangie are just that: one is of the darkest, heaviest, smokiest material, a rebel with an edge, and the other – an approachable, friendly, sweet one. One is reserved for a cult of loyal followers, the other – an accessible drink that can appeal to all whisky drinkers. The session was provided as part of the MH Whisky School which works closely with the Edinburgh Whiskey Academy and was accompanied by a presentation from OutSmart a non profit with a goal to keep bars and clubs safe for all.
Gathered under one of the most breathtaking spaces, the LVMH offices watching over downtown NYC , we got to hear first hand from Mr. Blackmore those fun trivia facts and stories behind the distilleries and most popular expressions from the 2 brands. Behind the 2 brands are Dr Bill Lumsden, Head of Distilling and Whisky in Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, and the very charismatic Master Blender Gillian Macdonald whom I had the honor of interviewing a couple of months ago. The event was orchestrated and presented and led by Ardbeg & Glenmorangie’s Brand Ambassador Lisa Pope, MBA, WSET II Pope, one of the most prominent, knowledgeable Ambassadors out there. Lisa comes with a strong background in wine and was sharing her experience of the 2 distilleries, production process and notes.
Glenmorangie, founded 1843, sitting a little off the town of Tain in the Highlands area of Scotland, is characterized by a typical flavor profile of light, fruity, sweet notes. Glenmorangie are famous for their stills being the tallest in Scotland – hence the famous Giraffe comparison of their stills, and the Glenmorangie logo of a Giraffe – are rumored to be originally designed for Gin making, hence the light, fruity flavors of the brand. All of Glenmorangie’s expressions mature in White American Oak before moving on to different finishes, and claim the throne, together with Balvenie, to invent the “finish” – the technology of moving the liquid from one cask to another to create a layered, complex flavor, rather than marrying it, somewhere mid 80’s.
We focused on two basic core expressions: The Glenmorangie 12 – The Original – started with a 10 year old and morphed into the 12 year old so two more years on age statement and as it names infers, expresses and holds the core distillery profile – its your moist morning bun with tons of butter and orange marmalade. It’s older brother, The Glenmorangie 18 – the “Extremely Rare” – is arguably one of the most popular expressions of the Glenmorangie family, with a very clear “Glenmorangiean flavor” – very distinct in its fruity notes, as if you just had a bite of the lightest plum pie with warm vanilla ice cream.. This is achieved by aging 15 years in the famous American oak that’s lightly charred and heavily toasted, bringing out much more vanilla and butterscotch flavors, then, 30% of the whisky is aged 3 additional years in Spanish Oloroso, while the remaining 70% keep soaking the sweetness from the American Oak. Then, after a total of 18 years the two are reunited in marriage to create this truly elegant sip.
Ardbeg, which has gone through many ups-and-downs, was bought by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997, sitting on the coast of Islay and producing of the heaviest, peatiest, smokiest expressions, and has built an impressive, tight, loyal following and community. It started its operations in 1798, as the Macdougal Family built its farm there distilling alcohol from time to time, which proved to be pretty nice and juicy, leading them to legally producing whisky in 1815. It was bought and sold and opened and closed throughout the 1800s and 1900s til it found a home in Dr. Lumsden’s creative hands. We tried both the 10 years old and the Uigeadail, named after the . I remembered well that Master Blender Gilian Macdonald has indicated her most favorite Ardbeg is the 10 and not just – it’s simple and clear yet powerful in that it shows the Ardbeg character and profile so clearly. The Uigeadail (pronounced Ooo-gi-dal) is named after Loch Uigeadail, the Loch in Islay that supplied the Ardbeg water. It’s a mix of two types of casks, ex-bourbon and ex-Sherry Oloroso, balancing each other’s characters.
The event was a perfect experience of Whisky Education at its core – simple, pleasurable, collegial, social and proving one more time that what sells a distillery is its core portfolio, if the base is good, albeit – or more accurately, because it’s extremely different on the palate, that’s all we need. Two beautiful bottles I had the pleasure of examining and learning about from Lisa Pope, at the end of the event, were a 1981 and a 1989 : “those are actually from the time when the distillery was mothballed and were just bought for a very impressive sum” .