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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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February 19, 2020 |
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Shouldn’t we do a few Mortlachs? Long time no Mortlach on WF, but we may well pass over last year’s OBs, for once. Game of Throne memorabilia and stuff; that's not really necessary anyway. I mean, why not some Pétrus Star Wars while they’re are at it? … Or Bollinger James Bond? (hold on…) Anyways, let’s do this randomly, and perhaps a little confusingly, since we've got plenty... |
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Mortlach 17 yo 2002/2019 (55.5%, Hidden Spirits, cask #MR219) 
Let’s see what our friends in Ferrara, Italy have found this time. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s an ueber-clean Mortlach, without much wood in the way, if any, which is perfect to let us delve into the distillate, so to speak. So it is not clearly sulphury, not even sure it’s wee-witchy-y (private joke, almost), but there sure is a waxiness, bordering sunflower oil (proper sunflower oil, not the atrocious industrial ones that are sold for cheap at supermarkets), then apples and plums. Fresh and fat, shall we say. With water: rather superb, pure chalky malt on apples and waxes. Mouth (neat): I believe it is the fattest Speysider indeed, and we would rather locate it in the North to be honest. Chalk, citrons, wax, grapefruits, angelica, aspirin. You could believe this is some slightly lighter Springbank, which may actually come from the 2 ½ set-up as far as distillation is concerned. It’s all Byzantine anyway. Yeah, you’re right, and Benrinnes. With water: fruits coming out, beyond citrus, chalk and wax. Finish: long, perfect. Comments: aging whisky in concrete vats (or better yet, eggs) should be allowed. Get rid of wood! This little natural Mortlach will tell you why I said this! Okay, I may have pushed things a little too far, but the SWA or any other honourable body should definitely allow such experiments. Or why not amphoras?
SGP:562 - 90 points. |
I agree we’ve started too high, but too late… |
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Mortlach 12 yo 2006/2018 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask #12579, 367 bottles) 
Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: ditto, this has even less wood, as the almost white colour suggested. Whiffs of williams pears, then chalk and a touch of earth. Not very aromatic to say the least, but clean and pleasant. Not much to add this far… Mouth: fine, really, but too young, spritzig, Schweppessy. Apples and pears plus, yeah, Schweppes. It hasn’t got the waxes at this stage, it’s more an ‘average’ fruity young malt, although it would tend to be willing to go towards bitter oranges, which would be nicer, should that ever happen. Finish: medium, nicer. Oranges, ginger, grapefruits. Comments: not a bad drop at all, it’s even pretty much to my liking, but I find it a little immature. Or too similar to other Dufftowners, such as… Glenfiddich. Oh let’s not be too harsh here… (hey, love Glenfiddich!)
SGP:551 - 80 points. |
I suppose we’ll find something bolder from DL’s… Ah, yes… |
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Mortlach 30 yo 1989/2019 (44.5%, Douglas Laing, Xtra Old Particular, Black Series, refill hogshead, cask #13609, 267 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: a lot of fresh putty at first, fresh marzipan, dairies, pine needles, cones, sap… Rapidly goes towards honeydew and mead then, then exotic fruits, mangos, maracuja, papayas… All that with a very thin layer of fresh varnish. Really wondering about the palate, such a varnishy nose is not always very good news. Let’s see… Mouth: no no no, this is pretty brilliant, if oh so slightly fragile here and there. You do feel that it shouldn’t have been kept for many more years in wood, with these typical herbal teas and saps starting to come through (pinesap), while the core is a tad fragile (stewed apples). But we’re nit-picking, it’s a lovely old dram, very elegant, with some hops, pink grapefruits, lime tree tea, orange blossom, old chardonnay and matching limestone, some artisan cider… Holds well after all. A little eucalyptus. Finish: medium, reminding me of some very old Cognacs. Now we always found out that old spirits tend to converge and that it’s not always totally obvious to tell between a 40yo Cognac and a 40yo malt whisky. Unless it’s Brora ;-). Comments: lovely, that’s the word I’d use. Of course you could tell between Cognac and malt.
SGP:571 - 90 points. |
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Mortlach 26 yo 1993/2019 (56.2%, Elixir Distillers, Whisky Trail Jazz series, hogshead, cask #85, 190 bottles)
Jazz and whisky, that’s like oysters and champagne, it just works. Colour: straw. Nose: chalk and aspirin are back, and so are bandages and ointments. So it is a fatter Mortlach yet again, while once again, the 1993 vintage is in question. Positively, of course. With water: more clay, chalk, stoneware, damp sandstone… Mouth (neat): same ballpark as that of the 2002, only with even more depth and fatness. Blood oranges, waxes, clay, limestone, touches of parsley and green pepper, eucalyptus… In truth this is fab. Oh there, why always feel the need to over-analyse everything, I’m asking you. Great whisky, and basta cosi. With water: sublime. Finish: sublime. Comments: if this is another golden age for whisky, that’s because of a few distillates such as this one. Stock up before they finish everything in Zinfandel and drop all age statements (hey I’m joking).
SGP:562 - 91 points. |
Indeed, with distillates such as Bowmore, Springbank, Clynelish, Ben Nevis, Highland Park or, apparently, Mortlach and Benrinnes, this is a golden age. Just avoid unlikely woods or wines that would make your future collection look like a LeRoy Neiman exhibition. Of course only a personal opinion, but let’s move on... |
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Mortlach 30 yo 1988/2018 (48.8%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, refill American hogshead, cask #18/068, 129 bottles) 
G&M did a lot for Mortlach’s reputation. Remember the 50yos? The pre-WWII vintages? The licensed labels with the eagles? Colour: gold. Nose: this one’s got a side that we haven’t really found in all the other Mortlachs that we’ve just tried: some meatiness. Wondering, by the way, if they haven’t dropped that part in the distillate since the very early 1990s. Pure speculations… So overripe apples, Grisons meat, touches of sulphur (candles, not quite matches), butter cream, vanilla, fudge, menthol… It is a pretty different nose, but that may also come from some more active wood. With water: butter and gas, then olive oil. Love love love olive oil. Mouth (neat): extremely good, it’s just that this kind of amount of (good) oakiness is a little harder to enjoy after a good deal of all-natural malts. Butter, brioche, Jaffa cakes, candied clementines (they say clementines have disappeared and have been replaced with further hybrids, is that right?), smoked salmon, green liquorice… With water: extremely Mortlach, sulphury in a good way, meaty, roasted, even coffee-ish. Flora & Fauna, anyone? Finish: long and grassier. You could almost feel a little methanol, or at least foreshots, but that’s most certainly my mind playing tricks on me. Happens often. Yes I’ve tried many a foreshot. Comments: a much debatable malt whisky, in the best sense of that word (I mean the word debatable). Could be that Mortlach got a little straighter around the years 1990.
SGP:462 - 87 points. |
Well, Mortlach could be a little tiring (again, that’s not negative) but where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let’s move on… |
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Mortlach 2006/2018 (53.4%, Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead, cask #MoS 18030, 329 bottles) 
Let’s see what our excellent friends in Paderborn (Fraumerkelland) have found. Colour: gold. Nose: rounded butter and praline custard, butterscotch, kougelhopf, baklavas, then more fruits, mainly dried pears and apricots. More cask influence, obviously, but the end result is pretty perfect, let’s just check if it swims, and if it swims well. With water: it does, getting younger, more on pears, more on some kind of smoky/farmy earthiness. Perhaps a touch of cow dung, which is an asset in classic Mortlach. Mouth (neat): impeccable, big, very butterscotchy, without one single faulty note, going towards café latte and, perhaps, Sachertorte. Do not touch Sachertorte by the way, cocaine is more harmless. Sure I know that’s Austrian, not German. I mean, Sachertorte (S., please gather your wits!) With water: very good but don’t drown it, or it would tend to go towards McDonald’s ‘coffee’. That’s right, dishwater. Finish: medium, cake-y, maltier. Comments: a very lovely drop. Reminded me of chicory coffee at times.
SGP:551 - 88 points. |
We’ve also found this older drop in the boxes, let’s do it quick before it evaporates… (gee-ee-ee, any excuses)… |
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Mortlach 11 yo 1989/2000 (59.5%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, sherry butt, #76.26, 514 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: indeed, it is meatier, with more mutton suet at first, then cigars, then Haribo babies and crocodiles (all rather orange), then fried parsley and other herbs, then marmalade. Not your average development, I agree, but there’s much fun to be had with this wee baby. With water: burnt cakes, walnuts and jamon iberico. That, you cannot fight. Mouth (neat): oranges, roasted nuts, dried meat (jerky), and that paraffin that we’ve already found on several occasions. With water: bitter oranges and marmalade all over the place. Takes water very well, in the sense that you could bring it down to 5% vol while it would still roar. Quite. Finish: long, a tad raw. Burnt cakes, molasses honey, Demerara sugar. Comments: it’s very okay, but probably no need to rush on mywhiskyauctionsdelamuerte.com.
SGP:651 - 82 points. |
Shall we go on? Try to break a Mortlach record? Where’s the Guinness crew when you need them? (agreed, not really)… Let’s try to find a lighter one, by way of holydays… |
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Mortlach 14 yo 1990/2005 (43%, Signatory Vintage, sherry butt, cask #05/050, 35cl) 
Love these humble wee budget bottlings, they’ve shaped a large part of any possible French malt-mania (which remains relatively moderate, I have to say). Colour: gold. Nose: but there, this is lovely and very Mortlachian! Could be that a little bit of bottle aging already occurred here, as this is rather complex, meaty and mineral, waxy, with notes of bouillon, marrow, candlewax, plus chives and mint leaves. Really very nice. Mouth: there, flints and sulphur, oranges and grapefruits, cardboard and mushrooms, a few wee chemicals (plastics -I’m sorry, Greta), some burnt herbs, rubber… Finish: rather long despite the low strength, a little bitter, and little too cardboardy… Roasted pecans in the aftertaste, which is better. Comments: okay, this wee baby didn’t quite make it to the podium, but there, I’ll keep sending my deepest and eternal sympathies to this little series.
SGP:462 - 77 points. |
While we’re at Signatory’s… |
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Mortlach 27 yo 1991/2019 (51.7%, Signatory Vintage, 30th Anniversary, sherry butt, cask #4239, 542 bottles)
I’m so glad we’re still having a few ‘30th Anniversary’ bottlings yet to try. I would have liked this wonderful series to last forever… Colour: amber. Nose: there, exactly. Cigars, autumn leaves, flints and used matches (very Mortlach), coffee, roasted chestnuts, walnut wine, and drops of acidic coffee. Right, luwak-style, but I’ve heard 90% of all luwaks sold in the world were fake. What’ the world coming to, friends? With water: miso and chestnut soup, soy sauce, mole, dates… Mouth (neat): perfect dry oloroso-y malt, full of tobacco, beef soup, raisins, bresaola, soy sauce, walnuts, and just anything related to umami. Having said that, it’ is a little dry and biting (90% cocoa chocolate) so let’s see what water will do to it. With water: not sure it needs water, unless you love smoky, almost steely pipe tobacco. Cocoa. Finish: long, on many walnuts, then bouillons and ore miso. The one with wee bits of tofu. Comments: meaty sherry in full swing here. Very lovely.
SGP:362 - 90 points. |
Perhaps a young fruiter to lift us all up… |
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Mortlach 12 yo 2005/2017 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask #11595, 329 bottles)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: pears and a little smoke. That’s not an unpleasant combo. Mouth: good and fresh, with wee touches of iron at first, then pear cider and a little mead. Mirabelle eau-de-vie, great eau-de-vie as long as no one’s added any deadly sugar (as rum folks do). Finish: medium, on pear liqueur and a little mead. Comments: not unforgettable but loyal and of fair marketable quality. There.
SGP:541 - 80 points. |
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Mortlach 10 yo 2006/2016 (55.5%, Svenska Eldvatten, sherry hogshead, cask #SE075, 312 bottles)
Svenska Eldvatten are usually having excellent bottles. Colour: straw. Nose: a very peary Mortlach, totally in the style of the DLs. IPA, pear cider, touch of wood smoke, there. With water: sameish. Mouth (neat): very good, better than on the nose for sure. Tart, earthy, on cider apples and lime. Other than that, it’s a little strong. With water: we’re okay, but it is not a deep Mortlach. Do not add water. Finish: medium, fruity, perhaps a notch boring. Tree leaves in the after taste. Comments: really good but nothing earthshattering. Isn’t Mortlach getting rather thinner? Just wondering… Slightly forgettable whiskies, this age/vintage combo.
SGP:551 - 81 points. |
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Mortlach 17 yo 1997/2014 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Un-chillfiltered Collection, hogsheads, casks #7165-7166)
The UMC of SigV’s ranges. Bob Seger had a great song about UMC classes in the late 1960s, but that’ got just nothing to do with whisky. Colour: straw. Nose: cider, cider, vanilla, and cider. And a little coconut. That’s fine, just not very Mortlachy. Mouth: better, sweet, sour, more on ciders (both pear, apple, and then pear + apple). Sour woods, apple juice, touch of wax, coconut water… Bwah… Finish: medium, okay, on apples and coconut plus drops of papaya juice. Not obligatorily a good sign. Comments: another drop that I won’t remember forever, and I have to say I rather hate coconut in my spirits. As they say, by definition I cannot remember a more forgettable one. Ha.
SGP:551 - 78 points. |
It's all going kind of downhill, is it not? Perhaps a powerful youngster?... |
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Mortlach 8 yo 2008/2017 (59%, Signatory Vintage, casks #800007-8, 498 bottles)
Look, if the good people at SigV have decided to bottle such a young malt in one of their pretty high-brow decanters, there ought to be a good reason. Let’s try to unearth it… Colour: straw. Nose: STR. Shaved, toasted, recharred. Which equals to vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and breads. A combo that would make any Victorian spirit taste like some new-world malt whisky for hipsters. Nothing against hipsters, naturally, but didn’t they say hipsters would be dead and buried by 2005? Isn’t Boris essentially a hipster too? What that’s got to do with a tasting note? With water: yeah, fine, bready and fruity. Pears and plums. Mouth (neat): good, raw, simple, fruity, malty, gristy. Malt for penniless hipsters indeed. Pears. Plums. With water: same. Panettone and kougelhopf doughs before anyone decides to put them into ovens. Finish: medium, on pears. A little simple. Comments: he thing is, all these vintages are really fine, but they do not seem to display any of Mortlach’s usual markers. Like, fatness, sulphur, oiliness, meats…
SGP:551 - 80 points. |
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Mortlach 22 yo 1997/2019 (56.9%, Silver Seal, My Name is Whisky, sherry cask, cask #10090, 121 bottles)
According to the label, this baby’s ‘Dedicate to G. D’Ambrosio’, so some kind of tribute bottling. Always great to see friendly faces on any whisky labels, Galileo Galilei, Robert Burns, Charles Dickens, Alexander Graham Bell, Boris Johnson, Giorgio D’Ambrosio, Edgar Allan Poe… (find the odd one out – well spotted, you win, that would be BoJo)… Colour: amber. Nose: raisins, cognac, mint, dried apricots, whiffs of cracked pepper and new leather. Typical. With water: really a lot of leather, tobacco, flints, and struck matches. Mouth (neat): really meaty and mentholated now, with a lot of leather and pepper as well. Very spicy. With water: the expected marmalade, a little caramel, and bags of ginger, nutmeg, bitter oranges and pepper. A feeling of young Armagnac. Finish: rather long, spicy, a bit rough, with this typical Mortlachy sulphur. More pepper as well as bitter chocolate in the aftertaste. Comments: really good but it may have needed further polishing. The leathery side was a wee tad too ‘forward’ for me, but it sure is a top notch dram. Cheers Giorgio!
SGP:362 - 85 points. |
Once again, looks like with a few exceptions, Mortlach really needs proper aging. |
(With thanks to Lucero and many other friends) |
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