Glenmorangie distillery have been on a roll this last year, releasing 2 new special and limited editions in addition to their yearly private collection release (last being the Companta reviewed here) : The Taghta (reviewed here) and Dornoch which is under the limelight today.

Glenmorangie Dornoch is a release in honor of Dornoch Firth, a vast and picturesque sea estuary. To raise awareness for the conservation of the Dornoch Firth, Glenmorangie has partnered with the Marine Conservation Society to preserve this precious waterway and a percentage of the revenues from this bottle will go toward the Marine Conservation Society to help sustain the estuary.

Photo credit: http://www.trekearth.com

Glenmorangie Dornoch itself is a no-age-statement single malt Scotch comprised of liquid matured in American oak barrels and lightly peated whisky further matured in ex-Amontillado Sherry casks and is available exclusively in Travel Retail shops.

Glenmorangie Dornoch (43%, NAS, Travel Retail, £60)

Nose: Oh, It’s the classic Glenmorangie profile, sweet honey, vanilla, citrus (kumquat on the front), but it has promises of spices, toffee, sour apples but still quite sweet as the Glenmo spirit is strong and isn’t easily conquered ere by the amontillado sherry finish. Although I should add that with some extra time in glass the sweetness is diminished and the sourness and spiciness goes up a notch.

Palate: Not really sweet like the nose and you can call it sour if you like. With oak, dash of smoke, apples, toffee and spiced roasted nuts.

Finish: Medium finish with vanilla, citrus peels, nuts and mild oak wood.

Thoughts: Solid yet forgettable. I don’t really understand the reasoning behind releasing Dornoch so close to Taghta release especially they they both sports rarer sherry ex-Amontillado finish. What’s going on here? Is it using the leftover casks? Or maybe it’s worse and it’s reusing the casks on different spirit? And while I’m grumbling here, why release it at 43% when all previous private editions and Taghta as well are 46%? I find this insulting!

I find it worrying that since Ealanta and Finealta before that, all Glenmorangie releases were mediocre and sports less then robust whisky (at least according to my taste buds). I hope that the forthcoming Tùsail release will reverse the trend. And what about Glenmorangie Dornoch? Pricey and average, but after all, it is for a good cause, right?

(Post was amended to fix my mistake of thinking both releases used the same sherry type casks)