A revolutionary, yet ancient, method of drying malted barley gives a botanical twist to this expression of the famous Highland single malt
Debate is bound to rage among whisky geeks about this unusual expression from Glenmorangie. This single malt is influenced by forest botanicals such as juniper, heather and pine. But fear not, this isn’t a whisky-gin hybrid – no infused botanicals here – although this was, apparently, a hotly disputed issue at the Scotch Whisky Association which, among many roles, is the arbiter of whether a whisky is actually a whisky.
In A Tale of the Forest, these botanicals are introduced far earlier in the process, at the kilning stage – before the barley is even at the distillery. Normally, the germination of malted barley would be halted by simple heat transfer to dry it, or by passing peat smoke through it. What Glenmorangie master distiller Bill Lumsden has done is revive a pre-20th century practice.
Glenmorangie’s A Tale of the Forest is influenced by forest botanicals
‘The peating of whisky happened by accident – like most things in the Scotch whisky industry!’ he argues. It was simply a side-effect of drying the grains directly over a fire. He continues, ‘In the past, not all maltsters would have used peat exclusively. They would make use of anything that would generate heat. And we have documented evidence of distilleries using the local fauna: birch and gorse, even bog myrtle.’
For his experiment, Lumsden did a lot of research into the land surrounding Glenmorangie, up on the Dornoch Firth in the Highlands. ‘I was very careful to research what would be available in the surroundings of the distillery more than a century ago, materials that could be dried and would readily burn. I was strict about that, because otherwise it could be seen as introducing botanicals.’
The method may worry some purists but the result is pure quality. The kilning has been subtle – the malt can’t have been dried only by smoke. What it adds is an intriguing earthiness and subtle but spicy smoke and eucalyptus zing to the classic Glenmorangie honeyed fruit. And given that this follows previous Tale releases, A Tale of Winter and a Tale of Cake, this might even prove the least controversial yet!
Glenmorangie: A Tale of the Forest, £80; glenmorangie.com
