Not too long time ago, Glenmorangie ‘created’ a “crowd sourced” whisky. It means that everything important about it was selected and chosen (or at least heavily influenced) by the public who cared (and possible consumers). The whisky taste, name and label design – all of it went threw voting process and at the end, after a very long and somewhat tedious process (I admit I got tired of it in the middle of the process and I probably wasn’t alone in that feeling), we got this whisky: Glenmorangie Taghta.

Taghta (pronounced tuh-tah) is Scots Gaelic for ‘chosen’ and the whisky that was chosen was finished in ex-Manzanilla casks.

As generally I like Glenmorangie, I bought and shared a bottle with my friend Michael in the hope for another good addition to whisky shelf. Is it?

Glenmorangie Taghta (46%, £65)

Nose: Sour and sweet as expected from ex-Manzanilla casks but still with the familiar Glenmorangie profile with soft creamy, oranges, honey. It’s velvety, with additional notes of lemon and cooked cloves, making it a real nice nose.

Palate: All that sweetness promised on the nose? almost none here as a blast of sourness (with very little sweetness) and spiciness hits you. Then some some grapefruits bitterness that fades away.

Finish: a bit weak finish which barely clings on. oak, some spiciness and the return of sweetness with mild sweet lingering  at the end.

Thoughts: Taghta started great with real pleasurable Glenmorangie (albeit with a twist) nose but did disappoint on the palate as I expected some sweetness to counteroffer the sour and dry impact from the ex-Manzanilla casks. I didn’t participate in the cask selection by the Clan Masters (the official Glenmorangie community and large fan-base) so I didn’t get to taste the other candidates. That makes me wonder if maybe another cask was the better choice? Overall it’s not a bad whisky despite the drawbacks I mentioned above and if you like your whisky with more sourness/bitterness and less sweetness it’s one you can enjoy without remorse (just like Michael do)