Whisky Review: Glenmorangie Harrison Ford Limited Edition

Introduction

Today, we are checking out the Glenmorangie Harrison Ford, a limited edition release from the Highland Scotch distillery in collaboration with the legendary actor. This is a 93-proof, non-age-stated single malt Scotch with an MSRP of $99.99.

On the production side, Glenmorangie's website doesn't give us much. All they say is that they marry classic bourbon Glenmorangie (by that they mean "aged in ex-bourbon barrels") with toasted Portuguese red wine casks. We'd love to have more transparency into what went into this, but at the end of the day, what we care about here on Film and Whiskey is: how is the whiskey in the bottle?

A quick word on the tie-in: we love that it's just called Glenmorangie Harrison Ford. They don't try to make it something referencing one of his movies, just the man himself, and that seems to make sense for his personality. A man of few words, slightly gruff, slightly rough around the edges. But that's why we love Harrison Ford. 

The following review is taken from our Patreon bonus episode between Seasons 10 and 11. Click the link to listen to this review in audio format.

Nose

Bob: My immediate first note here is that this is one of the least scotch-y scotches I've ever smelled. It says "bourbon Glenmorangie" on the bottle, but this smells like a high-malt bourbon. I get a little bit of that bright red wine character at the back end of it, but if you set this down in front of me and said, "What kind of whiskey is this?" it is 50/50 between bourbon and Scotch for me. This would really mess with my ability to pick this out of a lineup blind. I'm going to give it an 8/10 on the nose. There's some green apple peel notes for me, but it's bourbon-heavy, and taking me in a direction that no Glenmorangie product has before.

Brad: For me, I felt like there was this orange zest pop with vanilla frosting. It gets a bit lemony, and the longer I sat with it, the more it brought on some melon characteristics, like a honeydew. I really enjoyed this nose. It definitely is creamy enough that it isn't your typical Highland scotch. I gave it an 8.5/10 on the nose.

Taste

Brad: The palate has this plethora of great flavors. On the tip of my tongue it gave me lemon cream cheese frosting. There's some butterscotch going on, and the orange zestiness almost turned into a powdered Tang flavor, like orange juice on steroids. I really like this a lot, Bob. I'm going to give it a 9/10.

Bob: I'm a bit more tame than you on this one overall, Brad. I'm getting some of those harsh ashtray notes that we get sometimes on lower-end blended scotches. I do like some of the notes here, but the predominant thing I'm getting is a really thin mouthfeel. I do get some sweet orange, which you had mentioned before, but giving this a 7/10 on the palate would be kind of generous for me. I'm coming in at a 6/10 on the taste.

Brad: Bob, I want this bottle from you. That's all I have to say. You're not allowed to drink anymore.

Bob: Listen, you know how much I love Glenmorangie. You know that.

Brad: To each his own. You are entitled to your own wrong opinion.

Finish

Brad: Finish-wise, it lands in this nice, creamy buttercream and orange rind. It reminds me a bit of a Malt-O-Meal cereal. I think it's a 9/10 on the finish. It lasted a long time for being a 93-proofer. I really enjoyed the finish here as well.

Bob: Would you agree with me that the mouth feel is a little bit thinner on this one? It's definitely not viscous to me.

Brad: I don't know if I would. I drank it last night — I had some Glenmorangie Nectar d'Òr, and then I opened up the Harrison Ford and tried it, and I thought it was a few steps above the Nectar. This morning I sat down, nothing on my palate, just ready to go, and it jumped way up for me. So I don't know what it was, but I am all in on this Harrison Ford.

Bob: I always like it when we're divided on a whiskey. It's fun when we get to debate a little bit. The problem with this one is that I'm just not getting a ton of complexity here. So when it comes to the finish, I don't have that much to add to my tasting notes. Once again, this is maybe a 6/10 for me on the finish. 

Balance

Bob: That takes my overall balance score to a 6.5. And at $100, I don't know that I would spring for this bottle, Brad. I'm landing at a 6.5/10 on balance.

Brad: We are going to be so far off, because for me, I think it's a 10/10 on balance. This has all the flavors you're looking for. They all work well together. It's got enough zesty citrusy notes with some melon-y notes with a really rich creaminess that all works together perfectly.

Value

Brad: I think for a hundred bucks, this is an 8.5/10 on value. If it was $90, we'd be approaching a 10/10 on value. This is well priced. It's an affordable limited edition Scotch.

Bob: Yeah, I'm going to be lower than you here. I'm going to give it a 5/10 on value. At $100, I just don't know that I would spring for this bottle on the strength of what I'm tasting.

Final Scores

Brad: I'm at a 45/50 on the Glenmorangie Harrison Ford. This is a 90 out of 100 for me. I loved it. Easily two thumbs up. This is one of the better whiskeys I've drank in a while.

Bob: I am significantly lower than you on this one, Brad. I'm at a 31.5/50. Again, this may just be my tasting notes today. You yourself said it took until the second try to really appreciate it. So maybe by the time I try this a second time, I'll come up a little bit on it. I'm glad one of us is at a high score on this, because that means we'll probably get to keep drinking Glenmorangie.

Brad: You came to a 31.5? That's insane. 

Bob: Folks, so there you have it. Brad and I are divided on this one. I'm going to give it a very hesitant thumbs up just because of the tie-in with Harrison Ford and the fact that we love Glenmorangie. I am expecting to come back around to this one and like it a little bit more.

Conclusion

Our scores averaged to a 38.25/50 on the Glenmorangie Harrison Ford, one of the wider splits we've had on the show in a while, with Brad at a 45/50 and Bob at a 31.5/50.

In summary, the Harrison Ford is a curious bottle: a limited edition Highland Scotch that leans noticeably closer to bourbon than to anything else in the Glenmorangie lineup, with the toasted Portuguese red wine casks adding a creamy citrus character that Brad found exceptional and Bob found thin. If you love Glenmorangie, especially the Nectar d'Òr, this is worth a pour to see which side of the split you land on. At $100 MSRP, the value question is going to come down to how much weight the movie-star tie-in carries for you.

We typically recommend trying or buying a bottle when it scores 35/50. For context, a 40/50 is considered great, and a 45/50 is excellent. The Glenmorangie Harrison Ford clears our recommendation threshold on the strength of Brad's enthusiasm, but with a meaningful asterisk: this is a whiskey we genuinely disagree on, and your mileage may vary.