The Singleton's Sweet Side: Scotch Inspired by Desserts

At times, whisky aficionados can sound like pastry chefs with their tasting descriptors—using notes like apple pie, plum tart, blackberry jam, strawberry compote, candied orange peel, and citrus. That’s because whisky and desserts so often share similarly layered, sweet flavors, and both, after all, are built upon a foundation of grain. Pinpointing these flavors can be a fun exercise, but The Singleton scotch whisky has gone all in with its Gourmand Collection, which explores the harmony between whisky and dessert. Launched in April, the collection comprises three 42 year old single malt scotches alongside a high-end pastry pairing from London-based chef Nicolas Rouzaud.

Though bourbon typically comes to mind as a “sweet” dessert-like whiskey, scotch has also harnessed the flavor of desserts over the past several years. Back in 2013, Richard Paterson created a Dalmore bottling in collaboration with chef Daniel Boulud, and in 2019, Paterson tapped chef Massimo Bottura to create a one-of-a-kind charity bottling of a 49 year old Dalmore sold at auction. In 2021, Macallan worked with pastry chef Jordi Roca to create Rich Cacao for its Harmony Collection. Last year, Glenmorangie released A Tale of Ice Cream, whose production method drew out vanilla flavors from specially toasted oak barrels, while A Tale of Cake, released in 2020, featured single malt finished in tokaji wine casks. The new Singleton trio takes things a step further, by actually collaborating with a pastry chef (Rouzaud) to develop complimentary desserts.

Each of the three whiskies in the collection—Notes of Fig & Chocolate Ganache, Notes of Caramelized Crème Brûlée, and Notes of Black Cherry Gâteau—is named for the specific flavors they evoke. For those unfamiliar with ganache, it’s a thick, glossy emulsion of chocolate and heavy cream. Crème Brûlée, probably the most beloved French dessert, is favored for its crunchy burnt sugar topping and vanilla-laden custard tucked underneath. Gâteau is French for “cake” but is elevated by rich fillings, fruit jams, and adornments. Such specific dessert associations encourage drinkers to look not only to those flavors, but for the layered texture and mouthfeel of the whisky.

First matured for 12 years in American and European refill casks, the whisky was then aged for an additional 29 years in a variety of American and European virgin oak that was steamed, charred, and toasted to various degrees. This marks the longest second maturation time ever for The Singleton, and is longer than many scotches that use virgin oak.

The Singleton master blender Dr. Craig Wilson credits the final 6 months the whisky spent finishing in different wine casks for tailoring each expression’s dessert-like flavors. Red wine casks, he says, lent a slew of fruit, chocolate, and roasted coffee notes to the Fig & Chocolate; Grand Cru chardonnay casks lent lighter, sweeter vanilla notes to the Crème Brûlée, and casks that previously held amarone della valpolicella, a rich, expressive Italian red, supplied the fruit and cherry flavors for the Black Forest Gâteau.

“These are the richest and most complex Singletons we’ve ever made,” says Wilson. The success of nailing down hyper-specific flavors was a team effort, first tasted blind by a team of 12 members of the Diageo whisky-making team. Pastry chef Rouzaud was present at each stage of the finishing process, says Wilson, carefully noting the flavors to create a polished, modern French dessert to accompany each, with intricate layers of cream, mousse, sponge, and puff pastry to mirror the whiskies’ complexity.

Patrons can inquire directly here about purchasing one of the 136 sets of 500 ml bottles of each, going for £8,800 (about $11,000). Epicurean travelers eager for a sophisticated sip and slice pairing without the price tag can head to the Glen Ord Distillery in the Highlands, the visitor hub for The Singleton and largest of the three distilleries that make up the label (the other two are Glendullan and Dufftown). Through May, visitors can experience a fourth pastry creation from Rouzaud, a three-layer cake, with textures and flavors inspired by the label’s core range featuring a 12 year old, 18 year old, and 21 year old.

This isn’t the first time The Singleton has gone the pastry route. In 2023, the last installment of its Epicurean Odyssey Collection was a Glen Ord 40 year old. A pecan financier, or almond-based French cake, was created by the owner of New York City-based Lysée, Eunji Lee, to celebrate the expression’s U.S. launch. Unlike the Epicurean Collection, it doesn’t use sherry casks, the most common contributor to sweetness in a scotch, nor does it draw the majority of its flavor from refill casks as in the core range, instead relying on a hefty dose of new cask wood flavor from the extended second maturation and the wine finishing casks.