Our intrepid editor just journeyed to Scotland and Tuscany for the launch of Artein, the latest ambrosial offering from famed Highland distillery Glenmorangie.
The latest ambrosial offering from famed Highland distillery Glenmorangie
Read on for the first in a series of whisky-soaked reports from an epic adventure:
Having just caroused our way through Scotland and Italy with the men from Glenmorangie, we can attest that they truly know how to paint the town red.
Click to enlarge; Jared Paul Stern for DRIVEN
In fact, when it came to Tuscany, the storied single malt gave it an injection of red, white and blue—as in the Union Jack—a fitting metaphor for Artein, their wicked new limited-edition whisky aged in “Super Tuscan” wine casks.
A convoy of Mini Coopers to the home of the legendary Sassicaia
As part of the epic adventure across the two countries, Glenmorangie enlisted a convoy of Mini Coopers to ferry VIPs from Livorno’s five-star Grand Hotel Palazzo to Tenuta San Guido, home of the legendary king of the Super Tuscans, Sassicaia.
Click to enlarge; Jared Paul Stern for DRIVEN
We were fortunate enough to have been along for the ride, and captured these shots of the colorful convoy as it sped through the stately cypress groves and vineyards to a once-in-a-lifetime tasting in the usually off-limits Sassicaia sanctuary.
We sped through the stately cypress groves and vineyards to Sassicaia
How to top such an escapade?
You might well ask.
Click to enlarge; wine expert Leslie Sbrocco; Whisky Magazine editor Rob Allanson; Glenmorangie’s Dr. Bill Lumsden; Hamish Torrie; Catherine McKay; David Blackmore; and Maxime Balay (Jared Paul Stern for DRIVEN)
Dinner at a castle, of course, the perfect setting to unveil the Artein, a stunningly rich, robust and luscious malt made even more delectable by its time maturing in the wood made mellow by the wine many consider to be one of the world’s best.
A stunningly rich, robust and luscious malt mellowed in wine casks
The ambrosial concoction is the brainchild of Glenmorangie’s Head of Distilling & Whisky Creation, Dr. Bill Lumsden, a man who has never been content to let his single malts be anything but world-class.
Glenmorangie Artein; click to enlarge (courtesy of Glenmorangie)
(Want to give it a try? We hear Park Avenue Liquor Shop is getting its hands on an Artein shipment, but you’d best be quick about it.)
A match made in Heaven, but not the usual boring old one
Having sampled both elixirs in suitable quantities, we hereby declare it to be a match made in Heaven—but not that boring old paradise where people lie around strumming harps and petting cherubs.
Click to enlarge; Jared Paul Stern for DRIVEN
In Glenmorangie’s nirvana, they know how to uncork a few and have a damn good time…
– JPS
- Posted March 05, 2012
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- Jared Paul Stern for DRIVEN
