Another “character distillery”. Mortlach, by their own marketing, is the Beast of Dufftown. I presume, because contrary to the classical easy-going Speyside style, Mortlach is famed for a substantive, meaty, pungent quality. I believe I have experienced this profile on a couple of occasions. Last was at Whisky Fringe 2022, where I tried the 25yo “Supper Club” Mortlach, a really savoury and interesting dram, with thyme, chicken broth, and bubble gum, as I remember. My girlfriend really liked it too (she’s the one who picked it as a Half-Time Orange). It’s maybe by biggest regret in terms of passing on a bottle purchase. The £200 at the time seemed extravagant, but now I’m realizing that drams like that don’t present themselves often enough that one can afford to be stingy! Anyhow, I have some other Mortlachs to try today that I’ve collected somewhat haphazardly. There’s a modern standard bottling and an indie one, another from 1990 bottled 2003, and a recent 22yo. I’d be unlucky not to find any of the famed Mortlach meat here. Time to meet the beast!
Mortlach 14yo “Alexander’s Way”
Type: Scotch single malt
Alcohol: 43.4%
Cask info: Ex-sherry and bourbon
Unchillfiltered / natural colour: No
Price and availability €65 in Germany, or comparable price in global travel retail
Review sample: From friend’s bottle
🔗WhiskyBase
Experience ⚡
Vey zesty (orange peel, trocadero), and with some toasted almonds, crème brûlée, and a cinnamon dusting. That is to say, rather generically sherried profile, but with an extra zestiness. The palate is flavourful, quite sweet, but a little thin. The particular gooseberry note if often find in the finish of sherried whisky is there.
Thoughts💡
Not in anyway bad, and a step up from what I imagine most casual whisky drinkers imbibe. Yet, it is rather generic for the experienced palate and lacks the meaty character I was hoping for, but also not expected to find in this bottling given online complaints about modern Mortlach. As such it is a bit disappointing, and falls short of a star.
Mortlach 10yo 2009 Hunter Laing (Hepburn’s Choice)
Type: Scotch single malt
Vintage: 2009 (bottled 2020)
Alcohol: 46.0%
Cask info: Redwine finish
Unchillfiltered / natural colour: Yes
Price and availability: Still available around €60 (Germany)
Review sample: 3cl bought at Ardnahoe distillery for £3.50
🔗WhiskyBase
Experience ⚡
Nose: Citrus (orange, lemon) and red apples, salted caramel / toffee and smoked butter, some cinnamon. On the palate, sweet, viscous, salty, and the alcohol is not too much. Salted caramel and buttery notes, a bready maltiness, but alas — there is clearly storage defect here, a sort of unmistakable cardboard-y note (see future post about this phenomenon).
Thoughts💡
As it is I can’t fully appreciate this dram, but I’m quite sure a⭐ would’ve been in order for an untainted sample.
Inconclusive❓
Mortlach 12yo 1990 Hart Brothers
Type: Scotch single malt
Vintage: 1990 (bottled 2003)
Alcohol: 46%
Cask info: Sherry cask
Price and availability: estimated RRP €55, but not avilable anymore except samples
WhiskyBase ID: <text>
Review sample: 5cl from DeinWhisky for €12.90
🔗WhiskyBase
Experience ⚡
Oh my, this is an unusual nose, for a modern whisky at least. It’s hard for me to place, but I get vaguely Halloween-y associations: rubber/latex, and the sort of sweet fragrance that sits somewhere between fruit and vegetable, perhaps pumpkin. There is again some orange, and spices (clove, cinnamon), and buttery notes (for the first time ever, I had a buttercup association). So something sherry-like, but not what I think of as a modern one. Rather it draws towards the sour, almost vinegary qualities of some Olorosos. On top of this some yeasty, bready notes. Ooops, I forgot to write down notes for palate before I drank it up, but it was slightly spicy, just a little sweet and sour.
Thoughts 💡
My senses are here confronted with something really different than I had expected or have often experienced, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Also, I must point out that this whisky has been sitting in this mini-bottle for 20 fucking years, and yet does not have the cardboard syndrome, while the Hepburn sitting in a mini-bottle (albeit of a different type) for just 5 months was ruined. What’s the deal here?! I quite like this dram, but if it’s for the novelty or something more, I’m not sure of yet.
An intermission before the next dram is needed here. I went to whiskybase to find out about the dram I just had. I found one by hs305, one of the most prolific reviewers on the site, and as such, quite credible:
Let’s suppose his (or her, as I don’t know) palate is right. That would make sense of the sour notes I found and the lack of classic Christmas cake notes. Based on the expectation that this was bottled long ago (distilled 1990 and bottled 2003) I interpreted the unusual sherry influence as “old style”, but maybe it was just “bad cask”? I need to try more sherried drams from many decades ago, going back to the 80s or even earlier, and try to understand what is really meant by an “old style” sherry profile. And that makes a good segue to the next dram, as its indie bottler specifically strives for an “old school” style with all their releases, although the distillation date might not be so far ago.
Mortlach 22yo 1999 Spheric Spirits
Type: Scotch single malt
Alcohol: 54.7%
Cask info: Refill hogshead
Unchillfiltered / natural colour: Yes
Price and availability Currently just under €400 (Germany, 2023)
Review sample: 2cl from the bottler at Whisky Fair for €10
🔗WhiskyBase
Experience ⚡
Wonderful tropical fruit (coconut and papaya most of all, also lime), and spices (vanilla, cinnamon, yes, but more so clove and and pine-needles). All these smells are carried by fresh cream. Really oily palate, some waxy orange peels, and candied tropical fruit mix. The vanilla grows. Is there a tiny hint of cardboard catastrophe? It’s lurking nearby, but not yet compromising the dram. Subtle clove in the finish, and a clinginess of the oily, gingery, vanilla flavours. Do I also detect a wee sulphury note? If I do, it’s not a detraction from the experience in this case – maybe it’s even a bit… meaty?
Thoughts 💡
The famed meatiness of Mortlach, is not so prominent. But the oily quality is a real treat, and maybe that qualifies as “old-school”. I really like this! But close to €400 for a bottle is bonkers.
Great Quality ⭐
Personal Favourite ❤️
In my mind, Mortlach is supposed to be meaty. None of these four expressions were particularly so. Have I blown up the meatiness in my mind, or are these expressions missing something? It seems I will need to drink more ‘tlach to find out.
DuckDrams 
Leave a comment