
Brendan McCarron, head of maturing whisky stocks at Glenmorangie, stopped by #TasteWithSpace on Oct. 30 to discuss the distillery's two special releases of 2020, The Cadboll Estate and A Tale of Cake.
Brendan McCarron: The Art of the Limited Edition
November 3, 2020 –––––– Sam Stone
Many distilleries release limited-edition whiskies from time to time, but Glenmorangie seems to have the limited edition down to a science. Brendan McCarron, head of maturing whisky stocks at the Highland distillery, became the first repeat guest on #TasteWithSpace on Oct. 30 when he stopped by to chat about Glenmorangie's two 2020 special releases—The Cadboll Estate and A Tale of Cake. The two expressions were launched in March and October, respectively.“When you make whisky, you tend to be inheriting stuff that was laid down by someone else, and then you're putting the finishing touches to it,” McCarron said of The Cadboll Estate, which is a grain-to-glass whisky, meaning the barley is grown on Glenmorangie property—the eponymous estate—in addition to being distilled there. McCarron added that every year Glenmorangie grows barley on the Cadboll Estate. “Where Glenmorangie is based in Scotland, in the northeast corner, that's some of the best weather, and some of the best soil and earth, for growing, distilling, malting barley,” he said.While the barley from the estate has been used for years to make whisky that's typically blended into Glenmorangie Original and Signet, “this year we just wanted to show off a really classic, incredible style of Glenmorangie,” McCarron said. “It's 15 years old, it's 100% first-fill bourbon barrel-matured, and it's this single estate of barley that we used.” McCarron also acknowledged that this release holds a sustainability element. “People want to know where their products are coming from,” he said.