Glenmorangie’s Pride 1981 Dinner
Pride 1981 Bottle with Coffret. designed by Brabant and Scheublin
Glenmorangie’s Head of Distilling and Whiskey Creation, Dr. Bill Lumsden, was in town last week to launch his newest product, the $3600 a bottle Single Malt that the distillery has named Pride. Pride was aged nearly 30 years, the last three in Chateau d’Yquem barrels. It’s an amazing product, with an amazing price.
Dr. Bill, a youthful 51-year old with a brogue you couldn’t cut with a cheese knife, collaborated on the media dinner at Twist, with famed chef Pierre Gagnaire at the stoves. The dinner’s purpose was to pair various Scotches with a multi-course French feast. The dinner worked beyond almost everyone’s expectations.
The media came out in force for the dinner, journos from all over the USA, here for the launch. The following morning, I interviewed Dr. Bill in his suite at the Mandarin Oriental, but before I get to that, excerpts from the dinner.
“Glenmorangie Pride is a marriage between Scotland and France”, he said, referring to the fact that the Scotch is finished for three years in Chateau d’Yquem barrels. Yquem is the world’s most famous dessert wine, a Sauternes, and the distillery pays a pretty penny for the barrels in order to realize Lumsden’s vision.
The first course, an extraordinary foie gras terrine paired with an artichoke stuffed soufflé, melded magically with Quinta Ruban aged 12-year old Glenmorangie, although I was less enthusiastic about the second pairing, curried langoustine and a sweet potato salad redolent of bacon powder, and a shot of the Glenmoranie Original.
Lumsden later told me he thought the langoustine course was the most successful pairing of the evening. I thought there were just too many flavors going on, and the Scotch was jarring. De Gustibus.
Did I mention that this was the most impressive Gagnaire dinner since I ate at his original restaurant in St. Etienne, France, in the eighties? If I live to be a thousand, I doubt I shall ever taste a more perfect scallop mousseline, the third course.
“How did you get such a silken texture,” I asked the great chef, “and still capture the essence of the scallop so flawlessly?” Gagnaire isn’t Atlas, but he shrugged, anyway. “Don’t try it at home,” he told me. The pairing, Glenmorangie Lasania 12, worked just fine.
Next was roasted corn fed chicken stuffed with a perfume-y almond and pistachio paste, and a side dish of spinach and eggplant drowned in sage butter. The chicken had the texture of blancmange, and the Glenmorangie Extremely Rare 18 Years Old accompaniment worked well. The soft notes of the meat and the lush, vanilla and citrus tones in the Scotch felt made for each other.
At dessert, they unearthed the Pride, in a covered two-ounce Scotch glass, filled to about the one-third level. A 2001 Yquem, scandalously expensive as well, was also served with the three desserts, the most astonishing of which was strawberry granite perfumed with Amaretto and layered with preserved seasonal berries. I hate Amaretto, but this was the best frozen dessert I’ve ever tasted.
Lumsden greeted me with coffee and croissants the next morning in his suite. Even for a diehard Scot, Glenmorangie isn’t often served at breakfast.
“First and foremost”, he insisted, “I’m a whisky consumer.” That was his reply when I asked him how a $3600 price point was set. “Sure, it bothers me that since only 1,000 bottles have been produced, and only a lucky few will ever get to taste Pride.”
He went on to say that the price reflects the quality and rarity of the product. “Pride began in 1981, and was bottled in 2010. My first job at United Distillers was as a biochemist, and later, when it merged with IDV to become Diageo (the largest distilling company in the world), I’d already become a Manager.
“In 1998, I got my current post, and started on Pride. I tasted it in barrel for several years when suddenly, magically it began to take on complexity, and layers of flavor I didn’t expect. The last three years, I aged it in the Yquem barrels. Last year, I knew it was ready.”
“Who is going to drink this stuff?”, I asked him. “Probably people in high-end resorts who already have a deep appreciation for single malt Scotches”, he replied.
“I’ve always believed that Single Malts would come back with a vengeance in the US”, he said. “Many of the trendier white spirits like vodka are popular because of clever marketing. Serious tasters must eventually come back to more distinctive flavors.”
I couldn’t agree more, although Pride, let’s face it, wasn’t made for journalists.
The Baccarat Crystal decanter was designed by Laurence Brabant. Ms. Brabant is one of the world’s foremost glass designers. She has worked with Philippe Starck and Jean-Paul Gautier, among others. Her most famous design which spawned a number of knock-offs (always a judge of good design) was the red wine (verre rouge) glass with hollow stem.
Red Wine (Verre Rouge) Glass by Laurence Brabant
Dutch Designer Wouter Schueblin designed the coffret for the Pride bottle. An up-and-coming designer graduate from Eindoven, the coffret has a novel mechanism that presents the bottle when opened. Mr. Schueblin has designed product for Established and Sons, among others.
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