pop & pour

[This bottle was provided as a sample for review purposes.]

A little PnP history. Bring on the whisky.

Let me bask in this one for a minute.  Last December, I got a whisky advent calendar for Christmas and on a lark decided to blog about it on a daily basis (which seemed like a great idea until about Day 9, although I’m doing it again this year, so call me a glutton for punishment).  It was my first experience writing about whisky and was a highly rewarding, if difficult, extension of my wine-soaked senses.  I was happy enough not to embarrass myself, happier still to get some positive feedback on the experiment, and now happiest of all to receive my very first sample bottle of whisky to write up on Pop & Pour.  Let’s make this happen.

This is the sixth version of Glenmorangie’s annual Private Edition release, a unique and special malt released in addition to the established Glenmorangie lineup.  Each rendition of the Private Edition is completely different from the one that preceded it, and many of the prior PEs focused on a particular type of maturation vessel to enhance the flavour and colour of the finished product, but this one is a new kind of mousetrap entirely.  It might be the world’s first single varietal malt whisky, made entirely from a rare and vanishing strain of barley called Maris Otter, a high-quality, low-yielding winter barley known for its wild rusticity and deep, rich flavour profile.  (I am as surprised as you are that there are top-end varietals of grain just like grapes.  Booze is so cool.)  Maris Otter barley fell out of favour with whisky distillers over the years due to higher-yielding strains coming available, but it was carefully kept alive by a few quality-conscious supporters.  After it came to the attention of Glenmorangie’s Whisky Director, he set out to secure a parcel of Maris Otter to make this one-off Private Edition spirit. Read the rest of this entry »