Despite being owned by blenders, MacDonald & Muir, for most of the 20th century, Glenmorangie had an early focus on bottling its single malt. Some records show that its single malt was being sold as early as the late 19th century. This became the distillery’s main output in 1959, and with the unique flavours derived from Scotland’s smallest stills, coupled with their pioneering use of wood finishing, Glenmorangie is now one of the world’s biggest selling malts. As a result, the distillery portfolio over the years has been extensive, and little has been spared for independent bottlers.

One of the earliest examples of the distillery’s pioneering wood finish programme, this was launched in 2002 and was the last of a quartet that already included the Port Wood Finish from 1994 and the Sherry and Madeira Wood Finish releases from 1996. This, along with the Madeira finish were discontinued in 2007, with the port and sherry versions repackaged as part of the new core range.