February 2, 2016

The Mortlach week, Tuesday

More Mortlach, this time at higher strength (sometimes), and of higher ages (sometimes). But first, a little apéritif at low strength…

Mortlach 14 yo 1995/2010 (43%, Chieftain’s, butt, cask #7279, 870 bottles)

That’s what’s cool with a low strength, you may draw many bottles out of a single butt. Colour: gold. Nose: more like the official Old and Rare (so young and quite common ;-)), that is to say pretty leathery, ale-y, chalky, a bit sour, possibly thanks to the sherry. Some bitter oranges. May lack a little more focus. Mouth: oranges, maple syrup, a touch of mustard, some leather, some raisins, some walnuts. No more, no less. Drinks well, partly thanks to the very approachable strength. Finish: not that short, more or less all on bitter oranges. Comments: very fair, not lacking of any Mortlachness. An excellent introduction, I’d say. SGP:551 - 82 points.

Mortlach 13 yo 1997/2010 (46%, Silver Seal, 270 bottles)

From when Silver Seal’s labels were a little less baroque – who said rococo? - than they are today. But I love baroque! Colour: amber. Nose: it’s almost like if they had bought palettes of the old Flora and Fauna and re-bottled it. Of course I’m joking, but this is all on meaty and mineral sherry, with some gunpowder and plenty of bitter chocolate, cocoa powder, and walnut wine. And let’s not forget cigars. Mouth: we’re sipping old oloroso at high strength. Touches of mustard and bags of old walnuts. All we’re missing is a large plate of fresh water prawns straight from the Guadalquivir. I find it very excellent. Finish: long, with a little balsamico, more walnuts, some bitter oranges (Seville, of course), and plenty of tobacco. Salty aftertaste. Comments: a great bottling, this is textbook oloroso-ed Mortlach. Now, go find this one… sob sob sob… SGP:462 - 89 points.

You just cannot have a bunch of Mortlach without trying some G&M, can you…

Mortlach 15 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, licensed bottling, +/-1995)

Just checked, I’ve never written any tasting notes for this famous baby. Shame on me. This is still the version that was saying ‘rare old Highland Malt’, not ‘Speyside’. Colour: gold. Nose: oh lovely. Tobacco, dandelions, a very mild metallic/earthy side, some roasted nuts, a slice of Spanish ham (whatever), some honey, roasted chestnuts, some toffee, chocolate, coffee… Everything’s pretty perfect, especially balance and complexity. Mouth: a little wacky, but that’s an asset. Tin, coins, cigars, bitter chocolate, dry malt (some kind of strange beverage that our very good friends the English would drink), and then litres and litres of walnut wine. Only the body’s a little thin, but that’s the low strength. Finish: a little short but the flavours are perfect, from salty mustard to walnuts and bitter chocolate. Sadly, the aftertaste is difficult, cardboardy and drying. Stale orange juice. Comments: everything was just perfect, till the rather terrible aftertaste. It lost a good ten points there. Now, they also had versions at high strength. SGP:362 - 78 points.

Mortlach 18 yo 1990/2008 (46%, Van Wees, The Ultimate, butt, cask #5961)

Not first fill, according to the colour. Colour: pale gold. Nose: this time, it’s a medicinal one. Bandages, embrocations, Band-Aid, then chalk, sour cream, flints, raw barley, beach sand… So clearly a different Mortlach, but I have to say I have a soft spot for these kinds of styles. Mouth: ex-cel-lent. Where else would you find Brussels sprout? I mean, in which whisky? I know what you’re thinking, ‘that is sulphur’. Perhaps it is, but it’s a funny baby. Chalk, ginger, paper, tequila blanco (blanca?), lemon juice… Finish: quite long, with some Schweppes, some kind of Brussels sprout liqueur that a dissident monk would have made somewhere in the northern wet plains, and drops of bitter orange liqueur. Comments: a lot of fun in this wacky baby. I’m trying hard, but it’s just impossible to give it more than… SGP:352 - 79 points.

Mortlach 1989/2010 (46%, Berry Bros & Rudd, cask # 5141)

Colour: gold. Nose: it’s one of the ‘smoky’ ones, on the verge of being sulphury, without being sulphury, I’m sure you see what I mean. There’s plenty of chalk, soot, and saltpetre, plus a lot of leather and walnuts, with this medicinal side again in the background. That’s right, bandages. As they say in Sundance, the jury’s still out… Mouth: great! Leather, waxes, bitter apples, eucalyptus, perhaps a little Swiss cheese (genuine Gruyère, not the utter junk they sell us in supermarkets), and plenty of walnut liqueur. This, is pretty perfect, provided you’re into salty/wacky sides in your whisky. Finish: long, more leathery and more gingery. Good sulphur, even a little plastic. Very Mortlach. Comments: one to drink with a fondue savoyarde! Very well done, Doug and BB&R (yeah I know, I’m late…) P.S. not everyone would enjoy this. SGP:372 - 88 points.

Speaking of dear Doug…

Mortlach 1982/2002 (46%, Dundeil Selection, cask #4167)

Some ‘devilishly good whisky’ according to the label. But the devil is in the detail… Colour: straw. Nose: chalk, mud, clay, bandages, aspirin tablets, hay, paraffin, plasticine, lemon juice, menthol cigarettes (mums’ Kools)… What’s not to like? ;-) Mouth: some high-expression Mortlach, with magnificent notes of grapefruits and lemon juice (I know a small village in Corsica, named San Antoninu, where they make the best lemon juice in the world – even if they haven’t really gotten any lemon trees, but that’s Corsica.) Deliciously waxy ala early 1980s Clynelish, with a fatness that’s kind of light, and an unexpected saltiness. Coastal Mortlach… mmm… maybe have they stored the barrel at Lagavulin? Okay, okay… Finish: long, very waxy, orangey, kind of phenolic and peaty. Comments: bang, our first 90. Some superlative middle-aged Mortlach, without any obvious traces of oak – which is the whole spiel with malt whisky, if you ask me, and that’s why so many modern malt whiskies are so… say mundane. SGP:463 - 90 points.

Perhaps another older Silver Seal…

Mortlach 13 yo 1997/2010 (46%, Silver Seal, 353 bottles)

The one with the fox. Foxes will always remind me of the original Thin Lizzy (not the current line-up, saw them three years ago, was appalling). Colour: amber. Nose: almost the same whisky as the previous 1997 by Silver Seal, just lighter, and more ‘refill’. Which makes it earthier and kind of more mineral, and rather less chocolaty and cigary. Fine. Mouth: goody good. Oranges, a drier Cointreau, a touch of cough syrup, some tobacco and leather as usual, and then more and more bitter oranges. It’s a fresh and clean one – given that this is sherry – and it even tends to become very lemony. Finish: long, unusually zesty, almost sauvignony. Wine freaks would call it ‘Sancerre-y’. I agree, bl**dy wine freaks. Quite curiously, the aftertaste is fatter again, almost honey-like. Mysteries mysteries. Comments: top notch stuff. For the Italians again, this is becoming kind of unfair. SGP:461 - 88 points.

A last one – but we’ll have many more Mortlachs tomorrow…

Mortlach 21 yo (46%, Duthies, sherry wood, +/-2010)

From Cadenhead’s now discontinued Duthies range. A big name amongst hardcore whisky enthusiasts, but there, there are thirty-seven of us. Okay, one hundred. Two hundreds? Colour: gold. Nose: very Mortlach-sulphury. Plenty of plasticine, sour dough, cooked cabbage, public pool, damp peat (not burned – yes that smells of something), and fresh baguette. You see what I mean. Mouth: forget about sulphur! This is definitely no nosing whisky, but on the palate, it does deliver. It delivers grapefruits, linseed oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, plasticine, grape pip oil… And all that. The strength is perfect, drop the pipettes, this is a new life! (S., eh?) Finish: rather long and, dare I say, fairly Springbanky. Duthie/Cadenhead, may we see your bond book? The aftertaste is curiously fizzy. Schweppes-Lemon. Comments: a cruel dilemma, as Frank Zappa used to say when in front of a Stratocaster. Some charming flaws… SGP:462 - 84 points.

Mortlach fans, stay tuned…

Check the index of all Mortlach I've tasted so far