#amidwinternightsdram

[kroghsrestaurantandbrewpub]

Krogh’s Nest distinction. 🍂 These spirits is what sets the Krogh’s Nest apart from the Krogh Bar. Something to consider, especially as the weather turns crisper. 🍂 #blantons #blantonsbourbon #angelsenvy #angelsenvybourbon #angelsenvyrye #amidwinternightsdram #highwest #highwestamidwinternightsdram #willettdistillery #willetrye #willetbourbon 🍂 #kroghs #kroghsnest #kroghbar #rooftopbar #rooftopcocktails #rooftopdrinks #drinksontheroof #brewpub #brewpubnj #whitedeerplaza #takeintheview #bestviewintheplaza #lakemohawk #lakemohawknj #spartanj (at Krogh's Restaurant & Brew Pub) https://www.instagram.com/p/CklSDU1OZJy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[a-patient-wolf]

A Midwinter Nights Dram from high west distillery... from nose to finish this pour is complex, interesting, very tastie and oh so winter

[filoliquors]

Back on the shelf & just in time for New Years Eve @filoliquors A Midwinter Nights Dram. from @drinkhighwest Don’t forget we have Gift Cards available & they’re the perfect gift for adults. #FILOLiquors #bigcountrytexas #bigcountryliquor #westtexas #taylorcounty #AnsonTexas #abilenetx #abilenetexas #BuffaloGapTexas #BairdTexas #ComeandDrinkIt #BradshawTexas #tuscola #TyeTexas #TrentTexas #eulatexas #rotantexas #robytexas #potositexas #clydetexas #MerkelTexas #ViewTexas #CapsTexas #AMidwinterNightsDram #hawleytexas #hambytexas #colemantexas #WintersTexas #LawnTexas #FILOAbilene (at FILO Liquors)

[watercolourwhisky]

Glenmorangie - A Midwinter Night's Dram

Today we're talking about Glenmorangie's A Midwinter Night's Dram, a limited UK release that came out during Christmas last year, though bottles are still available. It's an OK dram, rich and bright, though to my pallet bears a strong line of male entitlement and bitter man tears.

Before we taste it, lo, I hear you cry! McBetts, what's with the weird name? Glenmo loves their fancy premium Frenchy Gaelic titles for their non-age statement finishes. What's going on here? Also, why not just wait six months for summer, and call it a Midsummer Night's Dram, which would feel a lot less forced?

Look, I'll square with you. I dunno. Perhaps an LMVH marketing exec got super excited when they realised 'dram' was one letter short of 'dream', and just couldn't wait to share the hilarity (even though there was already a US rye whisky with the same name.) Maybe they thought whisky novices were more likely to gift a bottle with a fun name instead of one that sounded like an operatic composition? The packaging is gorgeous, and it simply screams "buy me as a fun Christmas gift for my dad, who I'm not really close with and for whom I never know what to get." So there's probably that.

At any rate, A Midwinter Night's Dram is a pun on the title of the famous 1999 film starring Kevin Kline and Calista Flockhart.

For a little dramatic panache I'm reviewing this whisky on the actual pagan Midwinter's Night, the winter solstice*: shortest night of the year, which, as you might imagine, is a good day on which to drink whisky**.

To kick off the review, it may shock and alarm you to discover that, despite some truly lovely marketing copy, I don't think Glenmorangie's A Midwinter Night's Dram is a particularly wintery dram. In fact, throughout I pick up some distinctly bright, sharp notes, more of a spring ensemble than a winter complexion.

The nose has a bright fresh line, a little green, like unripened apple and cut grass. In fairness, it is underwritten by some mild to middle sweetness which tempers the exuberance - honey, mandarin and liquorice giving it a more balanced body. It's finished in a sherry cask, and while there are some suggestions of fortified wine, they're fairly faint.

The pallet is rich, although bitter: orange peel and candied wine gums, grapefruit topped off with cinnamon. Some sherry flavours flirt, although the cinnamon spice is dominant, and you'll find it's not the gentlest or smoothest whisky to savour.

Rather than subsiding, the sharpness becomes more prominent over the finish, oak and copper with white wine, nectarine and orange peel dominating. These flavours sit fairly high, and it's more of a tangy finish than a deep lingering sweetness you might expect (or hope for). There is a slight, pleasant chewiness, but the flavours don't hang around.

All in all, Glenmorangie's A Midwinter Night's Dram is… ok? As a one-off, it's almost a ride, though there's no chance it would make it into my regular rotation. Try it because it looks fun, and because it won't be around forever. Like love.

- McBetts

PS. What's that? The male entitlement and bitter man tears? Oh. Once upon a time I fell in love with a producer I worked with on an amateur uni production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. We dated for a bit and then she broke it off. My handling of it was not… super classy. I felt it necessary to express my feelings by staging an original musical set in the Star Wars universe, in a thinly veiled facsimile of our whirlwind romance (but set in a brothel, natch.) It turns out that when you write a tragic doomed romance in the bitter white hot sting of rejection, stunned in the adolescent realization that it is in fact possible that you're not everybody's dream beau, it can get a little… angsty. Like, "I hate sand" angsty. At least there were lightsabers.

Over the intervening years I've been hit by waves of horror at my behaviour, and formally apologised (twice) for my dickishness. Though my Star Wars/Moulin Rouge/Cruel Intentions styled musical was actually… kind of neat, whenever I think of A Midsummer Night's Dream, my very poor handling of the situation has left a powerful imprint. So for a third time, publicly: sorry, producer ex!

To be fair, Glenmo's marketing peeps probably weren't aware of this tragic tale when they named it. But they should have been.

Try it if you like: bitterness, very pretty packaging, conveniently timed generic Christmas gifts

Avoid it if you dislike: remembering the time you behaved like a total twat at the end of relationship that bloomed over a staging of Shakespeare's most famous comedy.

* By some reckonings, the winter solstice actually marks the start of winter. However, the pagan festival of midwinter traditionally kicked off around December 21. I've obviously spent too much time today Googling this.

** In fairness, any day is a good whisky day. Unless you're operating heavy machinery.

[whiskeyforums]

Glenmorangie - A Midwinter Nights Dram - UK Exclusive - Combines whisky matured in bourbon casks made from American white oak with liquid aged in oloroso Sherry casks - Chill filtered, said to offer "soft notes of citrus, vanilla and almonds" - Inspired by the tradition of the 16 Men of Tain, who were treated to a special whisky during the festive season - Created as a thank you for there role in making Glenmorangie - You can bet the juice is probably good, just would have been nice to get more creative with the name as opposed to knocking off one of High West Distilleries highly anticipated annual releases #whiskeyforums #whiskey #whisky #scotch #glenmorangie #amidwinternightsdram

[filoliquors]

New on the shelf @filoliquors A Midwinter Nights Dram. Blend of straight rye whiskeys 🥃 from @drinkhighwest #FILOLiquors #bigcountrytexas #bigcountryliquor #westtexas #taylorcounty #AnsonTexas #abilenetx #abilenetexas #BuffaloGapTexas #BairdTexas #ComeandDrinkIt #BradshawTexas #tuscola #TyeTexas #TrentTexas #eulatexas #rotantexas #robytexas #potositexas #clydetexas #MerkelTexas #ViewTexas #CapsTexas #amidwinternightsdram #hawleytexas #hambytexas #colemantexas #WintersTexas #LawnTexas #FILOAbilene (at FILO Liquors)