GLENMORANGIE director of distilling Dr Bill Lumsden paid homage to barley gone by at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh as he hosted the launch event for the firm’s newest whisky.
The sixth release from the Glenmorangie Private Edition collection, Glenmorangie Tùsail was first conceived as an experiment designed to explore the influence barley variety has on Glenmorangie single malt.
Tùsail is made from Maris Otter winter barley, a strain which Lumsden said was once popular in the production of both whisky and “classic” British beer but which “fell out of favour” as producers switched to more efficient barley varieties.
“[Tùsail] pays homage to the Maris Otter variety, with rich, rustic flavours of nut toffee, sweet barley malt, ginger, cinnamon, molasses and dates, complementing the more familiar notes of peaches, oranges and smoked pears,” said Lumsden.
