'X' by Glenmorangie

A couple of years ago Belroy’s started to distill and blend spirits with the single goal that they would work just perfect for many cocktail recipes. I always thought that was a great idea and their vodka is one of the best I have tasted so far. It seems that this year the same idea is picked up by a few large distillers and brands. 

You could say that every whisky can be used for mixing. That’s true, but a proper mixologist will always mix and match the spirits based on taste and aroma. Creating a whisky that will be perfect for lots of mixes is another story. 

A few months ago Glenmorangie launched “X”. On the bottle it states clearly “Made for mixing”. This whisky has a slightly sweeter and richer taste which will absolutely stand out when mixed with any kind of mixer, or used in a cocktail. Just use 50 ml of whisky with 75 ml of mixer. The whisky is also perfect for low alcohol drinks where you use only 30 ml of whisky with your favourite mixer. I attended a webinar with Jan Van Ongevalle who suggested “X” highballs with following mixers : 

• 
  Lipton Peach Ice Tea
• Coca Cola Signature Mixers “Woody”
• Soda water
• Ginger Beer

I asked what he thought was needed to create a tasty cocktail with cold drip coffee. The answer was “a bit a pear juice”. Certainly trying that too. But you know I absolutely love Old Fashioned cocktails, let’s start with that… 

X-O Fashioned

Ingredients
50 ml ‘X’ by Glenmorangie
A generous barspoon (or even two barspoons) of apricot marmalade
A dash of orange bitters
A splash of soda (sparkling water. I often use Perrier for this purpose)

Method
The best way to mix this drink is to stir it up in stages. Add the Marmalade to your glass with bitters and 10 ml of whisky. Add a splash of soda. Muddle the marmalade to dissolve it. Add two ice cubes. Add 20 ml whisky. Stir. Add more ice. Add the last 20 ml whisky. Stir again. Add more ice. Garnish with orange peel of a dehydrated orange slice. Enjoy.

P.S. Watch out for next article, I made another variation on this recipe.

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Glenmorangie - A Tale of Cake + Pairing with éclair !!!

Dr. Bill Lumsden, Master Whisky Maker at Glenmorangie, aged some of his whisky on Tokaj barrels (=the famous Hongarian dessert wine) resulting in a true taste-bomb for your sweet tooth : Honey, vanilla, passion fruit, pear, … It threw him back to his childhood years and the cakes he made with his grandmother. This whisky is absolutely perfect to pair with a nice piece of cake. The distillery worked with Dominique Ansel, the French pâtissier who invented the cronut. 

Back to Belgium – A couple of weeks ago I was lucky to receive a 50ml sample of this brand new whisky. But because it was just a small sample, I was also very limited in options. When I pour it in a glass, the empty bottle isn’t sexy anymore. And it’s really not enough whisky to do some cocktail experiments. Inspired by the story of the creation of this whisky, I decided to go for a pretty Instagram picture of the sample together with a nice piece of cake. I was thinking about the fantastic éclairs my local baker had sold back in June during the ‘Week of the éclair’. So I asked him if he could still make those… the answer was no.  

But Peter is not your average baker. He likes challenges, he likes whisky and he is very passionate about taste. 

I sparked his interest with this story and he suggested creating a brand new éclair with some of this whisky in the filling. Now that’s an awesome idea. I contacted the P.R. agency and managed to get him another small sample of the whisky. 

A few days later he came back with this: 

“A Tale of Cake” Eclair – By Peter Bosmans

This éclair has a delicious filling of salty caramel, roasted almond flakes and a cake that also has roasted almond flakes in its mix. The cake is sauced with Glenmorangie ‘A Tale of Cake’ whisky and sugar syrup. On top of the cake there is a mousse of passionfruit and mango. To finish the top part of the éclair is decorated with gold spray and sponge cake. It looks absolutely amazing. 

The different flavours of the filling match the flavours of the whisky. The colors match the colors of the bottle and box. That’s what I call a perfect pairing. 

And yes, this éclair absolutely tastes as good as it looks. 

I hope this can inspire some others to also create stuff like this 😊 

Bakkerij Bosbroek  
Peter & Katrien Bosmans-Vandebroek
Kroonstraat 46
3581 Beverlo
Belgium

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Glenmorangie whiskytasting met Karen Fullerton

 

Tijdens de warme zomer van 2002 was ik onderweg van Inverness naar John o’Groats, zowat het meest noordelijke punt van Schotland, en passeerde ik ongepland de whiskystokerij van Glenmorangie.

Ik kon er natuurlijk niet aan weerstaan om te stoppen en een rondleiding mee te maken. Heel opvallend waren de zeer hoge pot stills, de hoogste van alle Schotse stokerijen. Achteraf gezien was dit de beste rondleiding van mijn Schotlandreis en mijn eerste kennismaking met een reeks ‘cask finishes’. In de vier overige stokerijen die ik toen bezocht waren er op dat ogenblik nog geen finishes te ontdekken. Helaas heb ik sinds toen nog weinig kunnen proeven van deze stokerij… tot deze week.

In de periode van mijn bezoek begon destijds ook Karen Fullerton te werken voor Glenmorangie. Intussen is ze Global Brand Ambassador, leidt ze de Glenmorangie Academy en maakt ze zelfs deel uit van het ‘whisky creation team’ voor Glenmorangie en Ardbeg. In haar overvolle agenda vond ze eindelijk een gaatje om naar België te komen voor een workshop en tasting sessie. Het hoogtepunt van de tasting was de voorstelling van de nieuwe Quinta Rubin 14y, een mooi gerijpte whisky met een finish in portovaten. Dinsdagmiddag werden we verwacht bij Arthur Orlans in de Brusselse Dansaertstraat, de tweede bar van het team achter La Pharmacie Anglaise.

Als enige Nederlandstalige man nam ik samen met een vijftal Franstalige journalistes en blogsters deel aan deze workshop. Tijdens een zeer passionele uiteenzetting van Karen mochten we onderstaande bottelingen ontdekken. Elke botteling is eerst 10 jaar gerijpt op Amerikaanse ex-bourbon eiken vaten. Een eventuele narijping volgt pas daarna in andere vaten.
 

• Glenmorangie Original 10y
• Glenmorangie Lasanta 12y Oloroso en Pedro Ximénez Sherry cask Finish
• Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or Sauternes cask Finish
• Glenmorangie Quinta Rubin 12y Port Cask Finish
• Glenmorangie Quinta Rubin 14y Port Cask Finish

 
Aansluitend konden we nog kiezen uit enkele cocktails op basis van Glenmorangie whisky en daarbij kregen we ook enkele lekkere hapjes. Ik koos voor een variatie op de Sazerac met whisky, absint, suiker en Peychaud’s bitters. Wat me vooral is bijgebleven, is dat de combinatie met camembert en walnoot zeker niet verkeerd was. Het inspireert minstens om zelf ook wat te gaan experimenteren met deze schitterende whisky.

Met dank aan Glenmorangie en communicatiebureau PURE voor de uitnodiging.


Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.