Bold, creamy yet surprisingly subtle, our latest limited edition, Glenmorangie Sonoma-Cutrer Reserve gives whisky lovers old and new a delicious taste of California’s sunlit vineyards.

Overflowing with floral, fruity brilliance, this sumptuous 25-year-old Highland single malt Scotch whisky is one of Glenmorangie’s most rare and unique creations. Finished in celebrated Californian Chardonnay wine casks, as part of an experiment which may never be repeated, just 1,000 bottles exist.

Glenmorangie’s whisky makers are endlessly creative on their quest to bring delicious single malts to the world. In Scotland’s tallest stills, whose necks are as high as a giraffe, they distil a more delicate spirit, ripe for experimentation. Then they age their whisky in the finest casks, sourced from far and wide. Years ago, Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Whisky Creation, discovered the prized Chardonnay white wines of the renowned Sonoma-Cutrer winery, in the Sonoma Valley – birthplace of Californian wine. At once, he began to imagine how their casks might bring a sumptuous richness to Glenmorangie’s spirit.

Dr Bill said: “I can almost taste the sunshine ripening California’s grapes, in our richly delicious Glenmorangie Sonoma-Cutrer Reserve. Swirling with aromas of roses and carnations, and tastes of buttery vanilla, mandarin and pears, it’s as delicious as the whisky I imagined when I first tried Sonoma-Cutrer’s Chardonnay wines, so long ago. Finished for 15 years in a small batch of these casks, which we have never used before at Glenmorangie, this single malt is an absolute one-off. Bold and creamy, yet still superbly subtle, it deserves to be enjoyed by whisky lovers old and new.”

Dr Bill has always been fascinated by the world of wine. And as part of his experiments in the early 2000s, he began exploring how white wine casks from France’s Burgundy region, could influence Glenmorangie’s delicate spirit. At the time, Dr Bill became intrigued by the similarities between these wines, and those of the renowned Sonoma-Cutrer winery (which draws on Burgundian traditions at its home in the Sonoma Valley – the birthplace of Californian wine). Astonished by the flavours of Sonoma-Cutrer’s Chardonnays, which reminded him of Burgundy’s Meursault wines, he became inspired to experiment with Sonoma-Cutrer casks. In March 2005, he sourced a very small quantity of Chardonnay white wine casks and filled them with a batch of 10-year-old Glenmorangie single malt, aged in first and second-fill bourbon barrels. (Fittingly, Dr Bill had distilled that whisky’s spirit just as he started his 25-year tenure at Glenmorangie, in 1995). Finished for an exceptional 15 years, these experimental casks brought forth the bold, creamy tastes of Glenmorangie Sonoma-Cutrer Reserve, one of the Distillery’s most rare and unique creations.