Anyone notice that Glenmorangie just destroyed one of their best tasting products? They used to sell a delightful 12 year old scotch simply named “Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish.” The whisky spent ten years in an American white oak barrel, and was then moved to a previously used Spanish port pipe. It was rich and tender with a fruity aged wine backnote. It really was a very well made product.

Well, no longer. The entire line of Glenmorangie whiskies have been relaunched in new packaging, and released under different names. “Port Wood” becomes “Quinta Ruban” after the port barrels the spirit is finished in. The style of the spirit has drastically changed. What was previously sweet and subtle is now brash, cheap, and bitter. I’ve only tasted the Quinta Ruban bottling, but I don’t have much hope for the rest of the line.

For those of you who aren’t aware I’ll fill you in. Things like bottling at minimum whisky proof and finishing in a wine barrel… Those are all things done to improve a poor spirit. In a spirit like this bottling at higher than 80 proof just seems to bring the nastier notes to the forefront. This could be a fantastic whisky, but not until it has had at least another decade in a barrel to round out all these tough and tasteless edges.

Moët Hennessy has destroyed one of my favorite products. When I was bartending it was easily one of my best sellers, and it sold best to well-heeled gentlemen in the 60+ age bracket. Alienating your ideal customers in the name of progress is never a good idea.

Suspicions confirmed via a Scotsman.com story by Rose Murray Brown.

Update! December 7th, 2007
I got a chance to taste the new sherry finish bottling tonight. The Lasanta was better than the Quinta Ruban, but not nearly as good as it had been in the previous iteration. The same complaints apply: Bitterness, a lack of depth, and muddled layers of flavor. To my tounge it seems that I’m seeing something that I can’t quite name. If I had to guess it would be that there’s a large percentage of new white oak in the barrel mix. Sadly, I just don’t think that this is a spirit that shows well in bottling at 46% without chillfiltration.

I was browsing an Internet Forum and read this description of the old West End (RIP) in New York. It was posted by a cat named The Zoo Yorker, and it’s a perfect example of how Madison Avenue can dress something up with counter-culture mystique.

If you are a beatnik looking for history, you would do well to avoid what the West End bar has become - namely, simultaneously the most popular yet most derided bar in the neighborhood. Yes, Kerouac and Ginsberg were regular drinkers there, however, you must remember, Ginsberg was never the most attractive human being and Kerouac was a football player. That should give you some idea as to the clientele.

Other examples are:

Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley