The Singleton’s new Gourmand Collection reviewed

Sometimes Mondays aren’t so bad. Yesterday, I headed to a tasting of The Singleton’s new Gourmand Collection at No. 41 Burlington Arcade, Mayfair, upstairs in the boutique and tasting rooms of Justerini & Brooks – above a whisky room casually housing the likes of Mortlach 50 and Johnnie Walker King George V. Just your usual Monday surroundings.

We’re in deep luxury whisky territory here. A slightly strange place to be when the cost of living crisis is still alive and kicking, and most people are now looking for the best bang for their buck. But those who have money are spending it, and The Gourmand Collection gives them a pretty, pâtissiered platform to do so.

Luxury whisky: a piece of cake

Unveiled this April, the Gourmand Collection is a trio of 42-year-old Glen Ord single malts inspired by haute pâtisserie – each paired with a bespoke dessert created by master pâtissier Nicolas Rouzaud (of Connaught fame). Luxury whisky hasn’t had much call for its tweed jacket of late, and here it’s swapped it for a pastry chef’s apron.

At £8,800 for three 50cl bottles, with just 136 collections available worldwide, The Singleton isn’t chasing the dusty old-school collector. It’s chasing the luxury experience-seeker – the kind of buyer who hears about £275 tasting menus at Justerini’s or £45 cake-and-dram pairings at Glen Ord and thinks: Bingo. Or whatever it is that posh people say when they’re quietly pleased.

We’ve long known that whisky and dark chocolate make easy bedfellows. But most desserts? Too sweet, too cloying, too risky, surely. Not so. The shackles are well and truly off. Glenmorangie was inspired to make A Tale of Cake and A Tale of Ice Cream, now The Singleton has gone one step further, not just with whisky designed like a dessert but with its own baked buddy alongside. 

It’s also a demonstration of how much whisky is embracing the luxury lifestyle boom. It’s setting the table, lighting the candles, and serving pudding first for those who wish to experience, not just taste, you understand, but experience whisky. The dram alone isn’t enough anymore. In 2025 (and when you’re spending many thousands of pounds), the moment matters. 

The Singleton’s Gourmand Collection

Each whisky in The Singleton’s Gourmand Collection went through, wait for it, the Longest Secondary Maturation in Singleton’s History. The trio of single malts spent an initial 12 years maturing but then underwent 29 years of secondary cask layering. Not a finishing touch, it is this period that defines the profile of each single malt.

First up is Notes of Black Cherry Gâteau, which embodies the classic dessert that nobody butchers the pronunciation of. Think flavours of ripened, juicy black cherries, chocolate and black pepper. In its secondary ageing stage, a combo of three casks was used: two different American oak casks from Spanish bodegas, plus a European oak cask before the whisky was decanted into an Amarone della Valpolicella cask, bringing all the elements you’d expect a cask the previously contained a dry Italian red wine to do. 

Then there’s Notes of Caramelised Crème Brûlée. The whisky doesn’t have a hard shell to break with a satisfying spoon tap, nor does the cake. Isn’t that the whole point of Crème Brûlée? No, unsophisticated heathens. It’s all about the balance of rich and sweet notes of baked vanilla custard torched to perfection. For its further maturation, it experienced the delights of new European oak plus two contrasting American oak casks (one bringing more aromatic woody qualities and the other creamy, spicy vanilla notes) before ending its journey in Grand Chardonnay casks to develop more creamy smoothness and ripe fruit flavours. Why not?

Finally, we have Notes of Fig & Chocolate Ganache. The name, the whisky, the dessert… they all just ooze character. Melty, chocolatey, rich, and fruity character. In its secondary maturation, it was treated to new European oak plus American oak before being decanted into Priorat red wine casks for finishing. Which is on-brand decadent.  

The whiskies were profiled, and Rouzaud used that flavour profile to create three bespoke cakes of multiple layers and textures. The likes of mousse, sponge, puff pastry, and caramel cream come together, with each cake’s form mirrored in The Singleton Gourmand Collection’s bottle design, which is prettier than a very pretty butterfly that’s just been appointed Professor of Pretty Things at Oxford University.

Let’s get to our review. The headline is this: the whiskies are beautiful, the pairings are spot on. If the idea of The Singleton’s Gourmand Collection appeals to you, I can’t imagine you’d be disappointed.

Notes of Black Cherry Gâteau

ABV: 45.5%.

Nose: Dunnage cask earthiness, walnut, chocolate truffles, sticky red and black fruits, like cherries at the bottom of a Manhattan, stewed plums, and sultanas. There’s savoury, almost mushroomy/soy sauce/umami qualities here (rancio?) underneath with gingery spice, and just a touch of salinity that’s almost coastal.

Palate: Immediately sweet with all the dark and delicious berries you can name. A summer berry compote. A winter berry jam. Date purée. There’s also rosemary, coffee, baking spices, black pepper, dark chocolate… It’s pretty lovely to be honest. 

Finish: Long and tart with more drying spice and Gâteau-goodness. On the money so far. How does the cake fare… 

Paired Cake: Our dessert is a blend of Griottines cherries and rich chocolate, designed to mirror the whisky’s bold black fruit profile, balancing tartness and richness. The cake is light, fluffy, and full of flavours to match the lush fruity and berry qualities of the whisky. They bounce off each other rather than competing. I come to learn this is the theme of the tasting. 

Notes of Caramelised Crème Brûlée

ABV: 45.3%.

Nose: Immediately caramel. Like a caramel sauce you’d drizzle over ice cream/bread pudding/your partner. Bounty coconut bars, treacle, coffee, vanilla, banana, oak char, and cinnamon pastries mean we’re firmly in American oak territory. Seriously hits its mark. 

Palate:  So deep in caramel and toffee sweetness, but also old and ancient in a very oaky, dunnage warehouse manner. It’s like a Werther’s Original recovered from a pyramid. The vanilla character is more earthy on the palate, and there’s a slight peppery edge here too. 

Finish: Long and very sweet with more banana and coconut elements. 

Paired Cake: For this cake, layers of puff pastry, flan, and caramel cream were combined to echo the whisky’s vanilla-rich depth and toasted caramel edges. The alignment between pairings is spot on here. If I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell if I was tasting cake or nosing whisky. It’s so American oak-led as a whisky with the classic creamy, vanilla qualities, and the dessert absolutely leans into that too. It’s a stunning presentation of caramel, although it’s just a touch too sweet for the whisky for my palate. 

Notes of Fig & Chocolate Ganache

ABV: 46.8%.

Nose: A big whack of dark chocolate, dried figs, chewy angelica, roasted hazelnuts, Parma Violet sweets, and a shot of bitter espresso. With a little patience, a cloud of frothy cappuccino drifts in, carrying cocoa dust and sweet, boozy raisins. 

Palate: Silky-smooth with more plump berry sweetness and warm chocolate fondant. A bright, spicy thread zips through it all, keeping things lively. It’s got a very old soul to it. The resinous elements, a light balsamic touch.

Finish: Dark chocolate and cracked pepper cling on.

Paired Cake: The dessert is an assembly of silky mousse, airy sponge, and crisp base, made to mirror the whisky’s fig-chocolate interplay while adding extra texture to the experience. The delicacy of the dessert is the key here and throughout. The cake is really light and airy, and allows enough room for the whisky to shine. There’s fig seeds in here, which add a really delightful bite of texture. 

The post The Singleton’s new Gourmand Collection reviewed appeared first on Master of Malt blog.