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Review of the
Glen Moray Madeira Cask Project.
Glen Moray has just released the next
instalment of their Curiosity Range of
experimental limited editions, the Glen
Moray Madeira Cask Project, which has
been fully matured in ex-sweet Madeira
wine casks for 13 years and 10 months
rather than just being finished in the
casks, which is still relatively scarce
in Scotch single malt whisky production
where most of the Madeira cask releases
we see have only been finished in the
casks.
This third expression in the Glen Moray
Cask Project series of bottling's is the
first one which has been selected by
Glen Moray's new Head of Whisky
Creation, Dr Kirstie McCallum, who had
the enviable pleasure of going through
the distillery's maturing stock to
select this latest instalment in the
series.
Kirstie picked out seven ex-sweet
Madeira wine hogshead casks which were
laid down on the 26th May 2006, they were tucked
away undisturbed in ‘Warehouse 1’ - home
to the Elgin-based distillery’s
maturation experiments over the years.
Obviously full maturation in the Madeira
cask means that the impact of the cask
is much greater and of course the
challenge is to ensure the whisky
remains balanced and the influence of
the Madeira cask is integrated with that
of the Glen Moray spirit. From my past
experience of fully Madeira cask matured
whiskies Glen Moray's classic Speyside
style is an ideal whisky to take on the
additional toffee and fruit influences
which a Madeira cask should bring and
obviously Kirstie has found this to be
the case by selecting it for the next
Cask Project series of bottlings.
Kirstie commented: "Single malt whisky
matured in Madeira casks has been prized
in the industry before, but typically
the casks have only been used to
‘finish’ more conventionally matured
whisky. That’s what makes this new
expression so very special. Our new make
spirit has been slowly mingling with the
luxuriously sweet flavours of Madeira
for nearly 14 years, giving a depth of
flavour and an intense character that
couldn’t otherwise be created. It’s a
delicious dram, a dessert in a glass,
and we are very much looking forward to
sharing it with whisky drinkers in the
UK."
The combined seven Madeira casks Kirstie
selected for the Glen Moray Madeira Cask
Project bottling produced 1468 bottles
which have now been released to the UK
market, and I am pleased to say it has
been bottled at the flavoursome strength
of 46.3% ABV and it is naturally
coloured and non chill-filtered, the new
whisky has a RRP of £65 and will be
available from specialist online whisky
retailers such as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop and
Master of
Malt
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