Whisky52 Review: Exclusive Glenmorangie Single Malt

Whisky52 has been an excellent addition to the Wine52 and Beer52 family, uncovering new whisky regions and distilleries each month, from some big names.

Often with whisky clubs, you’ll end up receiving a few months’ worth of full-sized bottles and become overloaded with whisky you don’t have the time to drink before the next bottle arrives. That’s when you feel you have to cancel.

But, with Whisky52, they keep costs and consumption down by sending 35cl bottles each month. This means you have time to enjoy the whisky as it should be, without the pressure of drinking out of necessity to make way for the following bottle.

The smaller format also means that you are ending up with a lower cost compared to many whisky clubs, and the whisky they have sent is top quality stuff from excellent distilleries. It also helps that the first bottle you get from them is free! You just have to cover the postage.

Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch – Whisky52

One of the best introductory whisky cases is the Glenmorangie. This is a small-batch 12 year old single malt scotch, matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and finished in calvados casks. There’s a lot going on in this rare bottling and it is an excellent example of quite how good the whisky from Whisky52 is. Not that it really affects the whisky, but the label is also very picturesque and looks great on top of my drinks cabinet!

On the nose, this whisky is very fragrant with baked apple, vanilla, almond, pastry and pear aromas leaping out the dram. If you’re a real whisky connoisseur, you’ll add a drop (or more) of water, and see how it further evolves. Here, floral notes begin to appear, with spiced jasmine and heather.

Bottled at 45.7%, this whisky boasts a fuller, more textured body than most. The first sip is spicy and heated by the alcohol, but as your mouth warms to the sensation, a rich palate emerges. Baked fruits, toffee, marzipan, praline, eucalyptus, liquorice and even a hint of charcoal all weave together into one complex dram. As you can imagine with all this flavour, the finish is long, and super smooth.

It’s no wonder the current club members have given it an average rating of 4.5 stars.

What To Expect From Whisky52

By now I imagine you have already signed up and not reading this part, but on the off-chance you are, it’s worth knowing a bit more about the Whisky52 journey.

Besides the friendly bottle sizes and fair cost for such exclusive drams, Whisky52 also comes armed to the teeth with whisky knowledge and behind the scenes insights into the distilleries through their Stramash magazine.

The Glenmorangie edition features how the distillery manager sees life in the small town of Tain as inextricably linked with the success and business of the distillery, and how it manages to retain a craft identity despite being one of the most well-known whisky brands worldwide – with Harrison Ford a recent part of their advertising campaign. Or, you can learn insights into the distilling process from Anna Patterson, one of their distillers, or how Glenmorangie are working on Oyster restoration to restore their marine ecosystem. There’s plenty of interesting stuff in here, along with other whisky articles, which make for rewarding sipping as the story of your dram is brought to life.

Then next month, look forward to your next Dram! We’ve seen French single malt by Rozelieures, Shortcross from Ireland and InchDairnie from Scotland again, to name a few. These are the cream of the crop selected from hundreds of whiskies – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it – and they have managed to keep their whisky choices exciting and varied so you won’t get bored.

This is an excellent way to explore new styles, rediscover classics and drink exclusive, quality whisky. If you do want to space things out a bit more, you can always switch to a box every 2/3 months too.