Glenmorangie The Lasanta Whisky

This is one of the bottles that started my whisky collection before I even realized I was collecting whisky. I tasted the Glenmorangie Lasanta single malt Scotch whisky at my favourite restaurant and loved it. John brought a bottle home soon after to remind us of a great evening.

The Glenmorangie distillery was established in 1843, by brothers William and John Mathesen. This distillery is well known to be one of the first distilleries to experiment successfully with wood finishes. Glenmorangie Lasanta together with Quinta Ruban and Nectar D’Or make up the Glenmorangie ‘Cask Finish’ series.

These expressions start from a similar maturation background – 10 years in white oak ex-Bourbon casks. What makes them different is the additional 2 years spend in “finishing” casks. Glenmorangie Nectar D’or is finished in Ex-Sauternes Casks while the Quinta Ruban uses ex-Port barrels.

Glenmorangie Lasanta single malt spends the final 2 years in ex Olorosso and PX (Pedro Ximenez) sherry casks. According to Glenmorangie, the word ‘Lasanta’ means “warmth and passion” in Gaelic.

I have an older bottling still bottled at 46%. The ABV of newer bottlings is 43%. Glenmorangie, like Ardbeg, is owned by luxury giant LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). It is an affordable release retailing at around R600. I see that the Glenmorangie Lasanta retails for approximately £40 at Master of Malt.

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Glenmorangie The Lasanta Whisky

REGION: Highlands

ABV: 46%

COLOUR:  Warm gold

NOSE: Sherry, dried apricots, apples and peaches, warming oaky spiciness with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and honey sweetness.

PALATE: Warming and spicy with notes of sherry sweetness, pepper, raisins, dried lemon slices in dark chocolate and a caramels sweetness. Without water, the Glenmorangie Lasanta has a bit of alcohol heat that is tempered when a few drops of water is added. Water makes this release very easy drinking.

FINISH: Medium length with lemon and warming black pepper balanced with hints of caramel.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It is a lovely easy-drinking dram that is perfect for winter. It warms you from the inside out. The only problem of drinking it today, here in the Southern Hemisphere, is it is a scorching hot summers day.

I should have scheduled this dram for winter when it is cooler. Regardless, I have finished the last little bit of the bottle and will undoubtedly restock.

An article I found on Food24 suggests that the Glenmorangie Lasanta pairs perfectly with biltong tartlets. It also works well with cured meats and food that resembled Spanish dishes. Now I have to buy another bottle to try these food pairing ideas.

I have also tried the Glenmorangie Spios, a whisky aged in casks that previously held American rye whiskey as well as the Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX.

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