Glenmorangie 50 Years Old is the oldest whisky the Highland distillery has ever bottled. It was distilled in the mid-1970s from some of the last barley malted on Glenmorangie’s own floor maltings. It matured first in bourbon hogsheads and first-fill Oloroso sherry butts, then spent a final 25 years married in a single refill hogshead chosen by Dr Bill Lumsden. There are 149 bottles at 45.7% ABV, non-chill filtered and at cask strength. Each bottle sits in its own hand-cast porcelain vessel by American ceramicist Peter Pincus. The RRP is £25,800 / €30,000, and the release is available from September 2026.
Some whiskies take half a century to make. This one also took 1,000 days of work in a ceramics studio in upstate New York.
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old is the oldest single malt the Tain distillery has ever released. It is also a small piece of distillery history, because the barley behind it was malted on site before Glenmorangie closed its floor maltings in 1977.
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old at a glance
Age: 50 years
Distilled: mid-1970s
Casks: bourbon hogsheads and first-fill Oloroso sherry butts, married in 1999 into one refill hogshead
ABV: 45.7% (cask strength, non-chill filtered)
Bottles: 149, individually numbered
Presentation: bespoke porcelain display vessel by Peter Pincus
RRP: £25,800 / €30,000
Release: from September 2026
What is Glenmorangie 50 Years Old?
The whisky began as spirit from Glenmorangie’s tall copper stills in the mid-1970s. It was filled into bourbon hogsheads and first-fill Oloroso sherry butts and left to age.
It had already reached a good age when Dr Bill Lumsden joined as Distillery Manager in 1995. In his first years there he picked out a handful of casks he thought could handle much longer maturation. In 1999 he took a small parcel from them, mostly bourbon-cask whisky with a smaller share from the sherry butts, and married it in one refill hogshead.
That cask was chosen because it was tightly coopered and had already been used. A refill cask gives far less of its own flavour to the spirit, so after 25 more years the wood influence stayed gentle instead of overwhelming the distillery character. After fifty years in total, Dr Bill judged it ready.
A taste of Glenmorangie’s floor-malting era
The detail with the most history behind it is the barley. Glenmorangie malted its own barley on traditional malting floors until 1977. This release uses some of the last of it.
Dr Bill says this has added “rare hints of smoke” to the flavour. That is unusual for a distillery whose modern house style is known for being unpeated and delicate. It hints at how Highland malt was made fifty years ago, when many distilleries dried their own malt over fires that could leave a trace of smoke.
“I often wondered if the day would ever come that we’d be able to bottle a Glenmorangie with such a mighty age statement,” said Dr Bill Lumsden MBE, Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation. “It has to be one of my proudest creations.”
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old tasting notes
Tasting notes are Glenmorangie’s own. The Daily Whisky has not tasted this release.
Colour: Dark mahogany
Nose: Amber, cardamom, sultanas, nutmeg and baked oranges, then toffee and leather, with a herbal top note of coriander or parsley. A few drops of water bring out candy sweetness and more toffee.
Palate: Gently peppery and slightly drying, then toffee, stewed Assam tea, birch tar, cinnamon and grape must, with clove and oak tannin.
Finish: Long and lingering, with aniseed, treacle toffee and eucalyptus.
ABV: 45.7% | Cask type: bourbon hogsheads + first-fill Oloroso butts, married in a refill hogshead | RRP: £25,800
Two things are worth noting. The birch tar and the leather fit Dr Bill’s comment about smoke from the floor-malted barley. The ABV is also notable: 45.7% at cask strength after five decades shows how much alcohol has evaporated over fifty years in the warehouse. That makes the herbal lift on the nose a good sign that the spirit has kept its freshness.
‘Together in Spirit’: Peter and Laurie Pincus and the 149 vessels
Each bottle is presented in a porcelain vessel made by Peter Pincus, his partner Laurie and their studio team in Rochester, New York. They visited the distillery, tasted the whisky and then spent more than three years, about 1,000 days, on the project. They have worked exclusively with Glenmorangie on it since 2023.
The Pincus studio is known for complex mould systems and for new ways of applying colour to ceramic forms. For this project they developed techniques that had never been used in ceramics before. They cast and sanded each piece by hand, and they mixed 50 bespoke colour pigments inspired by the whisky’s tasting notes.
Each vessel carries its own pattern of stripes applied by hand, so no two are the same. The pieces are also designed to fit together. Placed side by side, all 149 form a tessellated wall of art called ‘Together in Spirit’, with the stripes radiating out from a central axis. The studio’s numbered layout, 001 to 149, shows where each vessel belongs in the whole.
Inside each vessel, the bottle stands on an oak plinth with brass fittings.
“Each of the vessels we have created links to its neighbours to create a collective masterpiece, but each also has its own identity,” said Peter Pincus.
Peter Pincus holds a BFA and an MFA from Alfred University. He received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award in 2017, and his work is in collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Everson Museum of Art.
Who makes Glenmorangie?
Glenmorangie has been distilling in Tain, on the Dornoch Firth in the northern Scottish Highlands, for more than 180 years. It draws its water from the mineral-rich Tarlogie Springs and distils in the tallest stills in Scotland. That tall neck means only the lightest vapours reach the condenser, which gives the distillery its delicate, fruity spirit.
Dr Bill Lumsden has led whisky creation at Glenmorangie for over three decades. He helped make wood finishing mainstream long before most of the industry took it up. He was appointed MBE in 2025 for services to the Scotch whisky industry, and works alongside Master Blender Gillian Macdonald. Glenmorangie is part of Moët Hennessy.
Price and availability
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old has an RRP of £25,800 / €30,000. It is available from September 2026 through the Moët Hennessy Private Client Team, the Glenmorangie Distillery Visitor Centre in Tain and select retailers. Private enquiries can be made through glenmorangie.com.
With only 149 bottles for the world, collectors outside the UK should go straight to Moët Hennessy Private Client or their national Moët Hennessy importer rather than waiting for general retail listings.
Is Glenmorangie 50 Years Old worth it?
At £25,800 you are buying two things: a fifty-year-old whisky from a closed chapter of the distillery’s history, and a unique piece of contemporary ceramic art from a three-year commission. The price reflects both.
This is for serious collectors of Glenmorangie, for people who collect whisky as art, and for anyone who wants a bottle that can’t be repeated. For readers curious about the floor-malting era without the price tag, the story itself is the reward: a distillery patiently holding back a few casks for fifty years to see what they would become.
Frequently asked questions
What is Glenmorangie 50 Years Old?
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old is the oldest single malt the Highland distillery has ever bottled. It was distilled in the mid-1970s from barley malted on Glenmorangie’s own floor maltings, matured in bourbon and sherry casks, then married in a refill hogshead for 25 years. Only 149 bottles exist.
How much does Glenmorangie 50 Years Old cost?
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old has a recommended retail price of £25,800 in the UK and €30,000 in Europe. The price covers the fifty-year-old single malt and its presentation: a unique, hand-cast porcelain vessel made by American ceramic artist Peter Pincus. Each of the 149 bottles is individually numbered.
Where can I buy Glenmorangie 50 Years Old?
Glenmorangie 50 Years Old is available from September 2026 through the Moët Hennessy Private Client Team, the Glenmorangie Distillery Visitor Centre in Tain, Scotland, and select retailers worldwide. Private enquiries can also be made through glenmorangie.com. With just 149 bottles, collectors should enquire early.
What does Glenmorangie 50 Years Old taste like?
According to Glenmorangie, the nose shows baked oranges, sultanas, nutmeg, cardamom, toffee and leather with a herbal top note. The palate is gently peppery with toffee, stewed Assam tea, birch tar, cinnamon and clove. The finish is long, with aniseed, treacle toffee and eucalyptus. Hints of smoke come from the floor-malted barley.
What casks were used for Glenmorangie 50 Years Old?
The whisky first matured in bourbon hogsheads and first-fill Oloroso sherry butts from the mid-1970s. In 1999, Dr Bill Lumsden married a parcel from these casks, mostly bourbon-matured, into a single tightly coopered refill hogshead, where it spent a further 25 years. The refill cask kept the wood influence gentle.
Who made the Glenmorangie 50 Years Old ceramic vessels?
The 149 porcelain vessels were made by Peter Pincus, his partner Laurie Pincus and their studio team in Rochester, New York. Over about 1,000 days they developed new ceramic techniques and 50 bespoke colour pigments. Together, the vessels form a tessellated artwork titled ‘Together in Spirit’.
Leave a Reply