Glenmorangie distillery

Glenmorangie distillery (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable: ; the toponym is believed to derive from either Gaelic Gleann Mòr na Sìth "vale of tranquillity" or Gleann Mór-innse "vale of big meadows")[3] is a distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, that produces single malt Scotch whisky.

The distillery is owned by The Glenmorangie Company Ltd (a subsidiary of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), whose main product is the range of Glenmorangie single malt whisky. Glenmorangie is categorised as a Highland distillery and boasts the tallest stills in Scotland.[4] It is available in Original, 18-, and 25-year-old bottlings, special cask bottlings, cask finishes, extra matured bottlings, and a range of special edition bottlings.

History

Legends tell that alcoholic beverages of one kind or another were produced in and around Tain since the Middle Ages.[5]

Production

Glenmorangie's water source is the Tarlogie Springs, situated in the Tarlogie Hills above the distillery.[6] Barley grain is supplied by Highland Grain Ltd, a co-operative of farmers in the area.[13] The stills used, the tallest in Scotland at 26 ft tall, with 16 ft necks,[14] are claimed by the company to produce an extremely light taste.[15] The distillation process was for decades undertaken by a staff of 16, known as The Sixteen Men of Tain, who worked year round, with the exceptions of Christmas and periods of maintenance.[4] Expansion of production since 2008 has led to a larger staff of 24, who are now referred to on bottles and in promotional leaflets just as The Men of Tain.[14]

Glenmorangie uses a number of different cask types, with all products being matured in white oak casks which are manufactured from trees growing in Glenmorangie's own forest in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, United States. These new casks are left to air for two years before being leased to distillers Jack Daniel's and Heaven Hill for them to mature bourbon in for four years. Glenmorangie then uses the barrels to mature their spirit. The Original range will mature entirely in ex-bourbon casks, while the Extra Matured range of bottlings are transferred into casks that were previously used to mature other products such as wine, port or sherry in a process called finishing. These form part of the regular range of products Glenmorangie makes. Glenmorangie also obtains small batches of other casks for finishing and release limited edition bottlings from these. Following acquisition by LVMH, Glenmorangie produced a rare limited edition aged in casks previously used to mature Château Margaux; these bottlings are now (2011) extremely hard to find and are priced accordingly.[16][17]

The warehouses in which the casks are stored are also believed to affect the taste of the whisky. Glenmorangie have released a special edition bottling titled Cellar 13, which is from the warehouse closest to the sea, as the whisky is believed to have a distinctive flavour.[18]

Bottling of the Glenmorangie and Ardbeg brands takes place at The Glenmorangie Company's purpose-built bottling plant in The Alba Campus at Livingston, West Lothian, just outside Edinburgh, Scotland.[19] Glenmorangie previously bottled Drambuie in a joint venture with the Drambuie Company; this arrangement ended in 2010.[20]

type	highland
location	Tain
coordinates	57.82589°N, -4.078°W
owner	Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy
founded	1843‡R1R‡
status	Operational
source	Tarlogie Springs in the Tarlogie Hills
stills	6 wash stills 6 spirit stills‡R2R‡
capacity	6.5 million litres per annum
brand 1	Glenmorangie
type 1	Single malt
age 1	Original (10 Years) "Extra Matured" Range (~12 Years) 18 Years 25 Years
cask 1	American white oak, ex-bourbon whiskey casks (main) Oloroso sherry casks Ruby port casks Sauternes wine casks "Artisan" air-dried white oak casks
abv 1	40–46%

Glenmorangie distillery

History

Production

Pronunciation

Bottlings

Accolades

In popular culture

See also

External links

References