Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake Single Malt Scotch Review & Tasting Notes

The Glenmorangie Distillery is located in Scotland’s Highland region. Unofficially founded in 1703, it began as a brewery on the Tarlogie Spring. In 1843, two former gin stills were installed, and it changed from a brewery to a distillery named, aptly, Glenmorangie. The distillery shuttered between 1931 and 1936, then resurrected until 1941, when it closed again until 1944. In 1977, it added two more stills, then doubled in 1990 and again in 2002, bringing the total to an even dozen. Glenmorangie claims ownership of having the tallest stills in Scotland.

 

Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation is Dr. Bill Lumsden. He probably doesn’t remember it, but Mrs. Whiskeyfellow, some friends, and I had dinner with him way back in September 2014. Never mind how dorky I look.

Dr. Bill has been developing new expressions while hanging out in The Lighthouse, which is the experimental venue for the distillery.

 

The 2021 release was A Tale of Winter, and as I stated in my review, I was impressed. The 2020 release was A Tale of Cake. I spent over a year tracking this one down. It seemed no matter where I went, I was told they had sold out long ago. And then, at some random store in Colorado, I found it.

 

“Some time ago, Dr. Bill found himself musing over how some of his most joyous memories came from cake – from the pineapple upside-down cake his daughter made for his birthday to baking with his granny in her kitchen. He devised this whisky to conjure the magic of a cake moment, finishing his favourite Glenmorangie Single Malt in the finest Tokaji dessert wine casks.” – Glenmorangie

 

Tokaji is pretty unique, and it was the main driver for my searching out A Tale of Cake. My 2020 Whiskey of the Year was The Dublin Liberties Murder Lane. It, too, was finished in Tokaji casks. That drove me to buy a bottle of Tokaji wine, which I found amazing.

 

A Tale of Cake is a single malt whisky – pretty much the standard Glenmorangie 10 aged in first-fill Bourbon barrels and then transferred to the Tokaji casks. It carries no age statement, is non-chill filtered, is bottled at 46% ABV (92°), and the retail price is $99.99. Finding a bottle, of course, would be difficult, although as recently as late November, I saw a few on the shelf in Chicagoland.

 

Was this worth my almost year-long quest? The only way to know for sure is to #DrinkCurious. Let’s get to it!

 

Appearance: Sipped neat from my Glencairn glass, this Scotch appeared as crystal clear copper. It formed a thicker rim which developed glazed, heavy legs.

 

Nose:  A deliciously-sweet aroma was made of honey, apricot, lemon zest, pineapple, and pear. It could have been a subliminal suggestion, but I thought I also picked up vanilla frosting. The pineapple and apricot were more prevalent when I drew the vapor past my lips.

 

Palate:  The texture was creamy and full-bodied. At the front of my palate, I tasted honeycomb, orange zest, dried apricot, and pineapple. The middle featured milk chocolate and, again, that vanilla frosting. I discovered almond paste, cinnamon sugar, clove, and dry oak on the back.

 

Finish:  A very long, warming finish began with pecan, almond, and milk chocolate, then moved to clove, cinnamon, and climaxed with dry oak.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust:  I guess I’m a sucker for things finished in Hungarian Tokaji casks because I loved every moment of this whisky. I’d describe it as heavenly. I’m a tad upset that I didn’t snag one of those extras I found on the store shelf in Chicago. I found A Tale of Cake to be an easy Bottle rating for me, and I believe it would do the same for you. 

Epilogue:  For what it is worth, both Cake and Winter were delicious. Of the two, I preferred Cake. Cheers!

 

My Simple, Easy to Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you do so responsibly.