Award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel is the inspiration behind Glenmorangie’s ‘Caketails’ in the form of a sweet and indulgent single malt Scotch whisky. A Tale of Cake celebrates all that is good about cake in this limited-edition whisky’s flavours of honey, white chocolate and fruit.
A Tale of Cake began when Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation, found himself musing over how some of his most joyful memories involved cake – from baking with his granny, to the pineapple upside-down cake his daughter made him for his birthday.
Dreaming of encapsulating cake’s magic in a single malt whisky, he experimented by finishing Glenmorangie in Tokaji dessert wine casks. Skilfully layering their sweet, honeyed notes with Glenmorangie’s smooth, fruity character, Dr Bill created Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake.
Of course, this single malt tastes particularly delicious alongside real cake, which is why Glenmorangie has paired up with Dominique Ansel. Imagining how he could bring cake and whisky together, Dominique created a unique twist on a pineapple boat cake inspired by Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake.
Paired with a pineapple Old Fashioned cocktail by expert mixologist Jeremy Le Blanche, it makes a deliciously indulgent CakeTail. Dominique and Jeremy have also invented CakeTail pairings to celebrate three of Glenmorangie’s most-loved whiskies: The Original, The Lasanta and The Quinta Ruban.
Tokaji wines are highly prized dessert wines from the Hungarian region of Tokaj, created using noble-rot grapes. Noble rot fungus (Botrytis cinerea) grows in moist conditions, making grapes shrivel up and concentrating their sugars, to create unique flavours.
Dr Bill became intrigued by the cult status of Tokaji wines and discovered the extraordinarily mellow tastes they could bring to Glenmorangie. He began with the fruity, fragrant spirit distilled in Glenmorangie’s towering (giraffe-heigh) copper stills, the tallest in Scotland.
He first aged this spirit in bourbon casks, for Glenmorangie’s signature citrus complexity. Then he transferred the whisky into Tokaji casks to create this limited edition’s wonderful balance of sweet, fruity flavours.
Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake is available from October 2021 in select cities across India. It retails at Rs 12,500 in Mumbai and Rs 6,500 in Gurugram. (www.glenmorangie.com)
Tasting Notes
Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake is bottled at 46% ABV
Colour: Rich copper
Nose: Complex, rich and multi-layered, with a burst of passion fruit, peach, pear and mango. More savoury notes like baking bread, gentle sappy oak and a curious, flinty minerality emerge. This is followed by classic Glenmorangie notes like honeycomb, vanilla and almond, with a hint of milk chocolate.
With a splash of water, more zesty notes emerge, like apricot, elderflower, flowering currents, honey pollen and peach syrup.
Taste: The mouthfeel is surprisingly luscious and tart at the same time, leading into a burst of sweet, candy-like flavours of honey, white chocolate, apricot, almond, vanilla and pear. This is balanced by a hint of tangy orange and menthol, both classic Glenmorangie flavours.
Finish: The lingering aftertaste again reminds you of a delicious combination of honeycomb, chocolate almond and pecan nuts.
