The Snootification of Glenmorangie

[Black Plague]

For Xmas, I got my friend a bottle of the Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish and we both really enjoyed sipping a few drams of it with cigars.

Later on, I was trying to remember how old the scotch was, but had already left my buddy's place and therefore couldn't just look at the bottle.

So I decide to check out www.glenmorangie.com...

Apparently it's no longer the Port Wood Finish, but the "Quinta Ruban"

And even better, now you can learn how to ruin a perfect whisky with some shitty cocktail made of fruits I've never heard of....AND you can even learn how to pair your favorite expression of Glenmorangie with infant-portion-sized gourmet dishes like Reindeer Carpaccio and Tuna, Seaweed, Lime, and Vanilla Yoghurt (we really need a "what a jerk off" emoticon here).

It was about this time I remembered hearing of someone buying Glenmorangie...and sure enough, it was bought in 2004 in a complex deal between Diageo and one of Diageo's subsidaries......Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) :angry: Purveyors of most all the overpriced crap you see advertised in cA magazine, which, in addition to its price-gouged namesakes, include TAG Heuer wristwatches, Fendi, Belvedere vodka, Dom Perignon, and Château d'Yquem, to name only a few.

Apparently, Glenmorangie wasn't expensive enough already (though usually worth the price) so now LVMH is planning to whore it out even more as a super-exclusive luxury brand in the coming year. My liquor store only has it in the old, pre-namechange bottlings, but just checking the 'Net it doesn't look like the price has raised too much..........yet.

Sorry, just a bitter rant about a great dram being made less accessible and less approachable by a bunch of snooty Frogs. :angry:

EDIT: According to some blogs, the price is about to go up by £10 (~$20) per bottle

 

[khari]

I echo your sentiments. It appears they did away with the Madeira and Burgundy finish expressions, and replaced them with a Sauterne wine finish. I'll have to go pick up a bottle of each to see what they're about.

I read somewhere that scotch is becoming more "in" nowadays. This only means the distillers will try to capitalize by creating drinks for the masses.

 

[Black Plague]

What's even worse is that Glenmorange is a trend-setter (like with finished scotches).....so if this works, we could see many more jumping on the bandwagon of Frenchy names, curvey cognac-looking bottles, and a 30% price increase

 

[AVB]

Glenmorangie has almost always been more expensive then it's contemporaries but with the recent price increase of aged scotch across the board in the past few years, their older versions were actually getting more in line with most of the other distilleries. The finishes that they use (more then I can name, at least 8 overall) were what set them apart in the marketplace. If this marketing endeavor doesn't work out the change back will take at least a decade since you can't change what is in the casks or pipeline too fast.

 

[Black Plague]

The guys also apparently got Ardbeg and Bowmore out of the deal. Luckily, Islay malts are too much of a niche market for them to realistically f*ck with and jack the price...at least I hope so.

 

[Boomer52]

Glenmorangie has almost always been more expensive then it's contemporaries but with the recent price increase of aged scotch across the board in the past few years, their older versions were actually getting more in line with most of the other distilleries. The finishes that they use (more then I can name, at least 8 overall) were what set them apart in the marketplace. If this marketing endeavor doesn't work out the change back will take at least a decade since you can't change what is in the casks or pipeline too fast.

What does "Finish" on a scotch refer to? What are some of them?

I have been drinking scotch for many, many years but usually the blended stuff.

 

[Black Plague]

"Finish" in scotch terms means that the scotch spent the last part of its aging process in another barrel. Traditionally, scotch is aged in oak casks, rarely newly-cut oak, more often casks formerly used to hold bourbon or sherry. So a "finished" scotch would be aged in some sort of oak barrel, then for its final years of maturation, moved to something else (for example: it would be aged first in sherry butts, then moved to port wine pipes, Madeira casks, rum barrels, or whatever the distiller can think of). Glenmorangie is the distillery that most credit for starting this trend in the late 90's.

 

[rbbrock]

The guys also apparently got Ardbeg and Bowmore out of the deal. Luckily, Islay malts are too much of a niche market for them to realistically f*ck with and jack the price...at least I hope so.

Please let it be so, Ardbeg is too damn good and too damn reasonably priced for them to screw it up for us!