Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700ml Bottle

The last time I had this it seemed like a perfect summer pour, a chardonnay of whiskey. -A great nose with honey and sweet tobacco. -A crisp palate with that bright Glenmorangie malt, but with slight undertones of peat, juniper (gin), and pine. It's a beautiful balance, evoking an inviting forest.

Tonight’s dram is a recent release from Glenmorangie – one of my perennial favorite scotches. A Tale of Forest is said to be very earthy – like drinking the forest – a significant departure from the typical fruitiness from Glenmorangie. Immediately upon uncorking, the air is filled with juniper, pine oil, and lemon oil, with sweet campfire smoke in the background. On the palate, the smokiness is much more pronounced, surrounded by pungent juniper, pine oil, grill-burnt lemon, fresh mint leaves, bitter orange peels, fennel, clove, smoked peaches, eucalyptus, smoked milk chocolate, peppermint, candied ginger, … more flavors are revealed with each sip. There is no real transition of flavors, as with most drams – all the flavors hit at once, and are present with each sip. If Glenmorangie was shooting for flavor complexity, they way over-achieved – to the degree that this dram is interesting, but not pleasurable or soothing – more of a science project than a relaxing evening dram that you enjoy sipping. If you took the botanicals out of a high-end gin, concentrated them by 100x, you would have this dram. The thick-creamy full mouthfeel is nice, and the dram lives-up to it’s name – like drinking the forest – more like A Tale of the Burning Forest, but this one is at the bottom of my list for Glenmorangies.Drink slow, drink long, drink a variety, drink often.