Review: Glenmorangie Astar Flavour you can almost chew

Distiller:

Glenmorangie

Bottle:

Reviewer:

jdcook

Date:

10th Oct 2009

Region:

Highland

ABV:

57.1%

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:

I can sit more than a metre away from the glass and still smell this. Fruity, smooth and toffee sweet with a hint of spice - one of the best 'noses' I've come across in my admittedly limited experience.

The taste is creamy and fruity with an underlying vanilla/toffee sweetness. Really big flavour, but still silky smooth and easy to sip. Very long aftertaste, again fruity and sweet.

Fairly complex, meaning that every sip means you end up concentrating on some slightly different aspect, so every taste is different, but all of them are good.

A personal favourite, and in my opinion probably the best value single malt that I have ever come across.

Tags:

Score out of 100:

95

  • Nose: 24
  • Taste: 24
  • Finish: 23
  • Balance: 24

Reviewed on 2009-10-10T11:32:00 scoring 95/100

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Comments

scribe

scribe wrote:

I'd love a bottle of this - I remember trying it at a tasting, and loving the fruitiness of it. I think I had "strawberries" written all over my notes.

Also, while the selection of wood that goes into this could half be seen as a marketing gimmick, it goes some way to proving that it's half not, too. Fascinating bottling, and thanks for the review.

24 March 2010 19:28
jdcook

jdcook wrote:

The blurb behind the wood is certainly a marketing dream, but it wouldn't be worth the effort to go through the process Glenmorangie do for the wood in the barrels for the Astar just for PR. And it is a truly great, very complex, very balanced dram. It's brilliant, and is still top of my 'best value for money bottlings' list.

24 March 2010 22:11
drinix

drinix wrote:

this whisky is enticing. @jdcook how would you compare it to the original and the rest of the range (nectar d'or, sonnalta px and quinta ruban)?

09 March 2011 21:41
jdcook

jdcook wrote:

@drinix - It's better than the Original, better than the Nectar D'or, much better than the Quinta Rubin. It bats in the same league as the Signet (haven't gotten around to the Sonnalta PX yest). This is the best value single malt I have ever had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of. At $100 Australian it is fantastic value, and I mean ~fantastic~! There are only a small handful of drams I would rate better than this, and all of those carry a much higher price tag. Recommend, recommend, recommend!

10 March 2011 02:32
drinix

drinix wrote:

@jdcook sounds great! I'll start by adding it to the wishlist :D, certainly a malt I'm looking forward to trying.

10 March 2011 08:47
jdcook

jdcook wrote:

@drinix This is one of my early reviews, and I wish I could edit to add a bit more oomph and emphasise just how much I enjoyed this one! You certainly won't regret getting ahold of this one, it is brilliant!

10 March 2011 21:39

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