New Cake-Inspired Whisky Is Meant to Be Paired with Dessert

Pairing spirits with dessert is an under-appreciated move, but this new Scotch whisky aims to change that. A Tale of Cake, a new single malt whisky from Glenmorangie, draws its inspiration from cake and was designed to be paired with it.

In fact, Glenmorangie's Dr. Bill Lumsden, whose official title is Director of Whisky Creation, teamed up with Cronut savant Dominique Ansel to craft a cake that would go perfectly with the smooth, honeyed whisky, which boasts notes of white chocolate and fruit.

Chef Ansel will sell his layered pineapple cake inspired by the whisky from his New York bakery on Spring Street from September 22 to October 6, while supplies last.

"I never guessed I could enjoy whisky this much, but there is a friendliness to the way Glenmorangie tastes," said Ansel in an announcement. "Baking and whisky making are different worlds but they have a lot in common."

The whisky has a suggested retail price of $99 and is aged in sweet Tokaji wine casks, which lends it those luscious baking notes. (Tokaji dessert wines are made in the Hungarian region of Tokaj.)

"The liquid is a rich copper, but the taste is pure technicolour, luscious, sweet and complex with multi-layered bursts of honey, white chocolate and fruits with a hint of mint," said Lumsden. "As you might expect, it tastes incredible when enjoyed with actual cake, so it's fantastic to see Dominique bring it to life in his CakeTails." ("CakeTails" are what they're calling the pairing of cake and cocktail; Ansel's cake was created to go with a pineapple old fashioned, from mixologist Jeremy Le Blanche.)

A Tale of Cake will be available in the United States starting October 1.