Two celebratory Mortlach


August 27, 2018

Two celebratory Mortlach

Have you heard the news? Gordon & MacPhail are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their seminal ‘Connoisseurs Choice’ range (well I always thought the word ‘seminal’ was a tad pornographic, but I’m no native writer, am I?) Anyway, G&M have decided to celebrate accordingly, with a range of older CCs, namely a Mortlach, a Caol Ila, a Linkwood, an Ardmore, a Glenburgie, a Glenglassaugh, a Miltonduff and a Stromness. Okay, drop the Stromness. It’s the Mortlach that we’ll have today, but first, a fitting aperitif, like we like to do whenever we’ve got a very old bottle at hand, in this very case it is the…

A typical connoisseur (WF Archives)

Mortlach 12 yo (43%, OB, Johnnie Walker Kilmarnoch, decanter for Daimaru, Japan, +/-1975?)

A very nice and pretty rare ‘unblended pure malt’ that’s carrying the Johnnie Walker flag, which wasn’t that common, I think. It was made for Daimaru, a large and rather old chain of department stores in Japan. Colour: full gold. Nose: it’s often the case when you taste from a stone flagon or decanter, you ‘think you find’ notes of stoneware or clay, but are they really there? Well, they are indeed, this is almost like nosing an old teapot into which someone would have also poured some banana juice or something. Some green tea for sure, mint tea, hints of sage, perhaps, papayas… Rather lovely, but let’s check the palate, it’s where thing may have gotten awfy awry, as they say in Tokyo. I mean, in Glasgow. Mouth: not too sure. It got dry, very mentholated and chalky, with some rather bizarre notes of chocolate-flavoured liquorice, chicory, a little tar, a very meaty smokiness that’s quite ‘Mortlach’ indeed, some tobacco that you would have kind of sucked out of an untipped Senior Service (as far as I can remember)… Now there’s also some salty meat (beef jerky) that’s rather Mortlach as well. Intriguing. Finish: rather long, on some kind of meaty liquorice. Comments: intriguing, interesting, surprising etc. You know those words.
SGP:272 - 80 points.

Mortlach 31 yo 1987/2018 (54%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, refill sherry hogshead, cask #425, 200 bottles)

Look at that lovely colour! Now 1980s vintages could be tricky here and there, so let’s see… Colour: bronze amber. Nose: more dried beef, jerky, pemmican, also a little rubber and struck matchsticks (Mortlach indeed), burnt raisins and cakes, burning cigarette, bakelite, old electronics, cigars, chocolate, very black toffee… I know not everything sounds nice, but when everything’s in sync, it’s all getting beautiful. With water: really beautiful. Much fewer matches, and more raisins, cakes, soft tobacco, earl grey, and that note that I always cherished, old books and magazines (in that old attic in that old house…) Mouth (neat): perfect. Treacle toffee, burnt bread, black olives, leather, tobacco, huge cloves and juniper berries, burnt raisins (on a burnt kougelhopf), perhaps some charcoal… This is all pretty black, if you see what I mean. If it’s refill it’s first refill – or yeah, simply second fill, you’re right. With water: wonderful dry sherry, with flying walnuts and rampant tobacco (what what what?) Quite some proper black tea as well. Finish: long and dry, very oloroso-y. Seville oranges, liquorice. Only the aftertaste is perhaps a wee bit dusty, which will prevent me from going above the 90 mark… Comments: happy anniversary, Mister Connoisseur – or perhaps Monsieur Connaisseur?
SGP:461 - 90 points.

(Thank you Hideo)

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