Glenmorangie Milsean is the seventh release from the Glenmorangie Private Edition range. Milsean (pron. meel-shawn) is Scots Gaelic for “sweet things” and the candy stripe packaging hints at a sweeter style of whisky.
Speaking at The Whiskey Co-Operative Tasting at The Wild Rover, David White, International Director of The Glenmorangie Company introduced the new expression that Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Whisky Creation and Distilling set to be “a whisky like going into a sweet shop”.
Glenmorangie Milsean (46% ABV) starts as Glenmorangie that has been aged in ex-bourbon casks. The single malt is then finished in flame toasted red wine barriques from Douro in Portugal for two and a half years. The result is a sweeter style of whisky from the caramelisation of the sugars from the barrels.
In the glass, Glenmorangie Milsean has a copper-like hue. The nose has beautiful aromas of candied orange, brown sugar, ripe fruit and caramel with hints of sherbet lemon. The palate is a little syrupy and sweet with an initial hit of brown sugar followed by ripe plums, chocolate fudge and sweet candy finishing long with peppery and spice notes.
Glenmorangie Milsean is non-chill filtered and bears no age statement. The single malt is not as sweet as anticipated and certainly not in the same league as the Signet. It lacks a little viscosity on the palate and hints at being a younger whisky but overall, it is a very approachable expression that has broad appeal. Add the aesthetics of the striking packaging and you have a limited edition single malt expression well worth the investment.
Glenmorangie Private Edition releases are a limited production. 264 casks of the Milsean were filled but only 168 made it into the final product with 5000 cases of Glenmorangie Milsean available internationally.
This article was originally published on March 4, 2016 on our sister website Gourmantic.
