SMWS 125.76 Glenmorangie 14 2005 "Like meeting an old friend"

A good friend I hadn’t seen a lot of at the time ended up with a handful of life accomplishments around the same time and I got the idea to spend a bit more and get him one gift for all of those collective occasions. He was a big fan of Lasanta and around the time I had the idea this was fortuitously enough available in the shop. I picked it up and finally got a chance to give it to him after not having seen him in over a year due to covid, so even the name fit the occasion. He was gracious enough to share a dram with me, so I took some notes.

Glenmorangie 14, 2005 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 125.76, Highland Single Malt, 57.1% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 8, 2005 and matured in a 2nd fill bourbon barrel for 14 years and bottled in 2019 yielding 178 bottles. This is part of the Sweet, Fruity & Mellow flavor profile named “Like meeting an old friend”. Enjoyed neat in a tumbler, at a meeting with an old friend.

Color: Pale straw, 0.2.

Nose: Buttery and malty. Putty. Light stone fruit.

Taste: Malty, peach, minor heat, cereal.

Finish: Bigger malt and cereal. Peach leaps out after. Long

As a peat fan, I found this thoroughly enjoyable. It’s unique among whiskies I’ve tried as I don’t recall ever getting such a distinct peach flavor (or even a faint one, at that). This was bursting with flavor, and the color is unbelievably light for the age and only a second fill barrel. I found myself thinking, “This is what an unpeated whisky should taste like.” Hell of a cask, this one.

Score: 88

Musical Evocation: Ted Nugent – “Good Friends and a Bottle of Wine”