Review #573 - Glenmorangie A Tale of Ice Cream

Glenmorangie has now reached 5 entries in their 'Tale of...' series - this is the most recent edition, bottled in 2024, named A Tale of Ice Cream. Dr. Bill Lumsden's goal for this release was to capture the flavors of ice cream: sweet, creamy, with a dominant vanilla note. To do this, he combined ex-bourbon casks with 'high vanillin' casks, which, according to the brand, are highly toasted virgin oak casks (presumably American oak).

This single malt doesn't carry an age statement, but we do know that it was bottled in 2024 at a strength of 46% ABV.

Glenmorangie A Tale of Ice Cream

Scotland/Highland - Single Malt

Price: USD 100 (2025)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 46% ABV

Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon and 'high vanillin' (toasted new oak) casks

Details: Bottled 2024

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 4 months; bottles at 80%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Lots of orange - oranges and cream, orange seeds, then some banana, with plenty of malty character lingering. Creamy oatmeal and grain notes build, and we get a bit of vanilla and clove, too; nice balance between cask and spirit.

Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness. Cinnamon and orange, some more cream, and chocolatey malt start us off; toasted bread, sweet cake, and honey arrive next. We get some vanilla and oatmeal like the nose, and a bit of heather adds a light floral dimension; tannins grow stronger, too.

Finish: Soft warmth, and the malty spirit character is still present - we're glad the casks didn't overwhelm. Soft tannins, but this isn't particularly spicy; creamy, graham crackers, little hints of coffee, and then fruit: sweet lemon, white grape. It's a medium length finish, quite mellow.

Final Note: A pleasant Glenmorangie that leans into those ex-bourbon style notes of vanilla and baking spice - this is a little step up from a whisky like the 10 Year Original, but not enough for us to justify the price differential from that core range release. This does have a nice creamy note throughout the tasting experience, and they did a good job balancing those casks and the distillate character; past that, it's a pretty typical whisky from the brand.

Value here is just okay; we would love to see a higher strength or age statement to really differentiate this product and justify the higher cost. Otherwise, we're more likely to seek the value of the core range Glenmorangie whiskies over this.

Our Average Rating: 6.3 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.46

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.