If you love whisky, you’ve probably heard of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. If you don’t love whisky, you’ve probably heard of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. It’s that good.
A new version of the Whisky Bible is released every year and each edition contains about 4,500 detailed, professionally analyzed tasting notes on whiskies throughout the world. The 2014 Whisky Bible was recently released and it included Murray’s choice for ‘World Whisky of the Year.’
The winner? Glenmorangie’s Ealanta, a single malt that was tucked away for nearly 20 years.
The whisky was introduced at the beginning of this year and it was part of the fourth annual release in Glenmorangie’s private edition range. Dr. Bill Lumsden, director of distilling and whisky creation for Glenmorangie, said the Ealanta was actually an experiment of his from 19 years ago. He put the single malt in virgin white oak casks and then hid them in the corner of a warehouse so it wouldn’t get used in a blend. He opened them up a few years ago and realized his experiment worked and that it was worth the wait.
Murray gave the Ealanta a score of 97.5 out of a possible 100 and he described the Scottish distillery’s creation as “borderline perfection.” Talking to the Huffington Post, Murray said “Not only did it blow one away with its deftness, beauty and elegance, but it gave an aroma and taste profile completely new to me in over 30 years of tasting whisky.”
Glenmorangie describes Ealanta’s aroma has toffee, butterscotch, vanilla and a hint of stewed fruits. Classic mentholic top-note, interwoven with an unusual nuttiness, reminiscent of Brazil nuts in toffee. The taste is described as candied orange peel, sugar coated almonds, sweet vanilla and marzipan.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford Ealanta at a price of $120 a bottle. People who have tried it agree that it is absolutely amazing, but the average whisky drinker isn’t going to be able to buy it on a regular basis. Looks like Ealanta is going to be more of a “special occasion” beverage.