Glenmorangie Gears Up to Reveal 'The Thirty' Highland Single Malt

The Scottish Highland distillery Glenmorangie is gearing up to relaunch its 30-year-old single malt, The Thirty. With it, this venerable whisky returns to the distillery’s core range.

The online TTB database regularly records new labels for whiskies. Distilleries and whisky producers submit these with an eye to a potential future release. While many of these bottles hit the shelves soon after, some never make it past the label stage.

Glenmorangie has been busy refining its core range lately. Last year several whiskies were revamped, some single malts grew a touch older, others received a fresh label. Now it’s time to reintroduce a familiar face: Glenmorangie The Thirty.

Glenmorangie appears to be deliberately positioning The Thirty in the upper premium segment. As the label suggests, The Thirty is a single malt that has matured for 30 years. It will be bottled at release at 43% alcohol by volume (ABV).

There’s still a lot we don’t know about the upcoming whisky. Tasting notes haven’t been revealed. Will it lean toward a sweet Highland profile, or take a more distinctive turn? We also don’t yet know which casks were used during maturation.

When it comes to cask maturation, anything is possible. In the early 2000s Glenmorangie released several 30-year-old whiskies, often finished in distinctive cask. Think Oloroso cask finishes or Malaga cask finishes.

Whatever casks are chosen this time, The Thirty looks set to reintroduce a 30-year-old expression to the lineup. This time, it appears to be not a limited release, but part of the permanent range.

Because we’re currently only seeing a filed label, it’s impossible to say with certainty when—or even if—the whisky will be released. Sometimes labels don’t lead to a launch. Once Glenmorangie makes an official announcement, we can expect full tasting notes and cask details to follow.