Glen Moray 2008 Manzanilla Finish
Glen Moray has just unveiled the 2008 Manzanilla Finish, Warehouse 1’s final expression for 2021. Philip Day comments on this latest creation from Speyside and also shares his detailed tasting notes.
The deep blue doors of Glen Moray’s ‘Warehouse 1’ released another hidden gem for whisky lovers to savour – the final of three whiskies from the Warehouse 1 Collection scheduled for 2021.
Glen Moray has today (29th November) released another Warehouse 1 treasure just in time for Christmas, the 2008 Manzanilla Finish. A stunning example of Warehouse 1’s innovation and experimentation, this very special dram is strictly limited to only 1240 cask-strength bottles.
The Manzanilla Finish celebrates the distilling team’s creativity with a fresh, evocative and luxurious dram. It’s a partnership of river and sea, bringing together the soft Spey water of Glen Moray’s spirit with the slightly sea-salt tang of Manzanilla sherry, which is famously only ever produced along the sea estuary of the Guadalquivir river.
This beautiful whisky opens with sweet ripe pears, green apples and freshly cut grass; perfect for enjoying by the fire right now, but also an ideal companion for the longer, lighter spring nights to come.
Created in the evocative bodegas of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Cádiz, Manzanilla is the driest of all sherries. Aficionados swear it tastes of the sea, because the unique coastal conditions have a dramatic effect on the flor, as Glen Moray Brand Ambassador Iain Allan noted at its official release:
‘As distillers, this notion of ‘place’ is endlessly fascinating, particularly as our home of Speyside is so much a part of the Glen Moray story.
We started to wonder what would happen if we brought Glen Moray spirit and Manzanilla casks together? If Speyside met Cádiz in the barrel, what would the results be? Soft with salt? Citrus with herbaceous? Questions like these can get the team quite animated, to say the least, but only time can ever answer their restless curiosity – and these results have been worth waiting for.
This is an exceptional whisky which represents the best of two very different worlds in one unique malt.
I’m thrilled that it’s closing out an exceptional year for the relaunched Warehouse 1. But of course, innovation doesn’t take time off for Christmas – we’re already well ahead in planning our 2022 expressions. We can’t wait to share some very special whisky in the year ahead.’
Launched in late 2020 with the inaugural Sauternes Cask Matured expression, Glen Moray’s Warehouse 1 Collection promised small batch, limited release whiskies that are always non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength with natural colour.
The 2008 Manzanilla Finish follows on from the very successful 1998 Barolo Finish, the second of three whiskies from the Warehouse 1 Collection scheduled for 2021, which was released at the beginning of October.
Crafted since 1897 in the ancient town of Elgin, the capital of the Speyside whisky region, Glen Moray distillers have been curious about flavour throughout their history. Surviving ledgers show that a wide variety of casks were used to mature new make spirit back in those early days, which was an unusual practice for the time.
A deep knowledge and expertise of wood has developed at Glen Moray through generations of distillers, resulting in today’s exceptional range of whiskies with a style to suit everyone.
Let’s have a closer look at the release:
Glen Moray Warehouse 1 2008 Manzanilla Finish
(Glen Moray’s Warehouse 1 Collection)
Tasting Notes (Supplied by Glen Moray through Burt Greener Communications):
Colour: Pale gold (natural colour)
Nose: Initially very soft, evoking sweet, ripe pears, green apples and fresh cut grass. Lively and vibrant, with background hints of camomile tea.
Taste: Clean fruit gives way to drier oak spice. A luxurious mouthfeel leads back around to the herbal characteristics first introduced on the nose.
Finish: Long, lingering and savoury with characteristic Manzanilla salt accents.
Personal tasting notes (Official sample kindly provided by Glen Moray through Burt Greener Communications)
Colour: Pale gold (natural colour)
Nose: A smooth, delicate bouquet with predominant floral aromas, reminiscent of chamomile. A strong hint of ripe pears and other orchard fruit, with a semi-sweet background aroma for good measure.
Taste: A luxurious mouthfeel, with elements of a drying oakiness helps create a dram of substance. Light acidity produces a pleasant sensation of freshness, providing the fruity and herbal characteristics, first noticed on the nose.
Finish: A stylish, long-lasting finish with a slightly bitter but not unpleasant salty aftertaste.
The very fact that allowing the Glen Moray spirit to fully mature first in ex-bourbon casks prior to finishing in ex-Manzanilla sherry casks has given the whisky time to interact, instilling it with a unique character. The chamomile and other fresh notes, the drying finish and the light acidity are all characteristic of this superb type of sherry. These factors together with the fruity, robust nature of the whisky spirit have blended well to create dram that is worth trying.
In short, the maturation period has created a well-rounded layered classic dram. It is very accessible, at a reasonable price point.
ABV: 54.6%. Bottled at cask strength and non-chill-filtered with natural colour.
RRP: £74.95.
It is a UK exclusive, available in 70cl packs in specialist whisky shops.
For more information about Glen Moray distillery, please explore earlier posts.