Glenmorangie Pride 1981 Single Malt Scotch

Glenmorangie Pride 1981 Single Malt Scotch

In October 1981, Glenmorangie, a world-renowned distillery located in the Highlands region of Scotland, distilled and laid down for maturation a single malt whisky in its finest first-fill bourbon casks. At the time, the intent was to create an exquisite 18-year-old Scotch. In 1999, however, Dr. Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie's Master of Whisky Creation, sampled the whisky and noticed how well it had aged. The same year, Lumsden who holds a PhD in Biochemistry (he wrote his thesis paper on yeast physiology) and is the only person in the world to have been honored with Malt Advocate's "Industry Leader of the Year Award"three times acquired a select number of Sauternes casks from the fabled vineyards of Chateau d'Yquem. Chteau d'Yquem Sauternes are celebrated for their complexity and sweetness, and Chteau d'Yquem is the only wine from the Sauternes region to be awarded the Premier Cru Suprieur rating. Rather than bottle the whisky in 1999, Lumsden decided to age the whisky in the Sauternes barriques he had acquired. During this finishing process, he sampled the whisky every three months in order to determine when it had reached its peak of maturation. After a decade slumber in the Sauternes casks, Lumsden deemed the whisky ready for bottling. "The opportunity to age this superb 18 Year Old for ten years in Chteau d'Yquem casks was too exciting to pass up," says Lumsden. "The resulting liquid, one of our most mature to date, is characterized by rich flavours of sumptuous desserts, and undertones of oak tannins, resulting from the extra-maturation process. We are always looking to push boundaries and innovate, and Glenmorangie Pride 1981 is the pinnacle of those efforts." Glenmorangie Pride 1981 is encased in a Baccarat Crystal decanter designed by Laurence Brabant and an oak gift case designed by Wouter Scheublin. "With a total of 28 years under its belt, this is the oldest whisky currently available from Glenmorangie," says John Hansell, the editor of Whisky Advocate. Glenmorangie Pride 1981 earned the "Highland Single Malt of the Year"award from Whisky Advocate on January 30th, 2013. Only 1,000 bottles of this whisky have ever been made, and only a handful were allocated to the United States. Pick up this rare treasure today!