Thanks to Jeremy from Sippers Social Club for letting me try this one!
So for today's reviews I wanted to look into a couple of Mortlach bottlings I had a while ago as I feel this is a good example of me exploring my tastes for this distillery because it is one of my favorite's. Mortlach is a Speyside distillery known as the "Beast of Dufftown" and one of the seven stills of Dufftown aka the 7 distilleries that Dufftown built its prestige on (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, the long closed Parkmore, the more recently closed Convalmore and Dailuaine are the others), although some other distilleries were built after this hymn was written and passed on (Glendullan, Dufftown, Kininvie and the now closed Pittyvaich). However, out of all the distilleries in Speyside none have hit a tune with me more then Mortlach has (although some older Convalmore definitely come close.) So when I had a chance to try a couple of interesting older Mortlach's I jumped on it, one of them was because buying a bottle at $900 is not as good of a choice as getting a sample and the other because I can't buy a bottle of 70s Mortlach anymore without forking over $1000 for it and especially since it was the 300th tasting note I ever have done for scotch whisky.
So first things first, let's try the 1987 Gordon and Macphail bottling shall we?
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Age: 31 Years
Region: Speyside
Cask Type(s): Refill Sherry Hogshead
ABV: 54.0%
No. of Bottles: 200
Maturation Time: 1987/2018
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- Colour: Dark amber
- Nose: Cocoa, brown sugar, allspice, vanilla bean, toffee, kosher salt, white pepper, plum, cherry, coffee bean, orange, lemon
- Palate: Mint, ginger, cocoa, plum, cherry, vanilla, cherry, nuts, toffee, white pepper, sea salt
- Finish: Medium to long with fresh red fruits, brown sugar and barley sugar
The nose is nice and bold with some great red fruit and coffee notes while the palate has some of that old school sherry quality but doesn't seem to have those old dusty kind of notes that I've found on some other sherried scotches from the 70s and even the early 80s. I'm guessing this whisky was a PX hogshead given the focus on sweeter notes and that it didn't have the sulphuric or salty quality of the usual oloroso that you'd imagine would be picked up after 31 years in the cask. In the end for me personally it was kind of underwhelming given the age but I'm very happy I got to try it and it's still a very good whisky even though I don't think I'd pay over $900 CAD for a bottle of this as this kind of sherried maturation just isn't for me.
85 pts
So now let's try the 1975 Signatory bottling of Mortlach! This one is a bit younger, almost a decade at that, at 22 years of age in an "oak cask" which most likely means a hogshead of some sort or a bourbon barrel. Either way, it's fun to compare two different styles as well as two different decades of Mortlach so let's take a peek! I had a dram of this at Allen's in Toronto (if you like steak definitely give them a look!)
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Age: 22 Years
Region: Speyside
Cask Type(s): Oak Cask
ABV: 57.7%
No. of Bottles: 260
Maturation Time: Sept. 1975/Sept. 1997
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- Colour: Bronze
- Nose: God this nose is powerful, a huge blast of oil and vanilla, apple, pear, grass, cereal, caramel, cherry, allspice, grapes, cocoa powder, Strong woodsmoke
- Palate: Silky Alpine milk chocolate like being in a chocolate factory in Switzerland, vanilla cream, marzipan, butter apple, pear, cherry, raisins, caramel, yeasty pastry, oak tannins
- Finish: Long with almond butter, cocoa, apple chutney and baked bread
This whisky is a trip, a Ritter chocolate factory meets a French bakery with fresh almond pastries. It reminds me a bit of a Bruichladdich Single Cask with its almonds but this whisky adds in a lovely apple and chocolate complexity that makes this such a multi-dimensional treat. A great way to have toasted 300 tasting notes and this whisky ended up being one of my favourite drams of the 2018!
91 pts
So taking from this 2 part review I think it's a good analysis to show how sometimes certain styles from a distillery you enjoy may not always be for you. In Jeremy's case, the 1987 was his whisky of the year and I can definitely see why because for some people who love old school dry styles of sherry that whisky does all the right things, but compared to some sherry styles I like (such as a 1966 Tamdhu and 1979 Ardmore I had last year that I reviewed a bit ago or will be reviewing shortly!) it just didn't do as much for me as I wanted it to. It is still an excellent dram, but compared to the 1975 Signatory it missed hitting certain areas for me although this may be entirely different for you too as everyone is very different, so regardless of age explore the different styles of the distillery you enjoy because they can become as diverse as the world of single malt whisky itself!
Whisky is a story of exploration, so even if they're not all winners go out and seek adventure especially if its of a distillery of such quality as Mortlach because you won't be TOO disappointed!
Thanks again for reading and make sure to follow me on instagram for newer updates @whiskyladdie!
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