Mortlach Distillery
Address : Mortlach Distillery, Dufftown, Keith, Banfshire, AB55 4AQ
Telephone No : 01340 820318
Web Site : No Stand Alone Web Site
Visitors Centre : No
Mortlach Distillery was the first distillery to be built at Dufftown, (Glenfiddich didn't open until 1887), and It was licensed pretty much at the same time as the 1823 Excise Act came into being. The distillery is built around a well that had previously been very well used for illicit production. The distillery was a stop-start operation for some time and when J. & J. Grant of Glen Grant bought it they removed the distilling equipment and left it silent. During this time the barley store was used as a place of worship by local members of the Free Church of Scotland until their new church was built in the town. It then became a brewery, then finally a distillery again with new equipment, and the whisky was given a brand name, ‘The Real John Gordon’, a reference to the owner.
Here are a selection of whisky's produced at the Mortlach Distillery:
Mortlach 15 Year Old 43% 35cl (Gordon and MacPhail)
Bottling Note
A half bottle of Mortlach 15 year old, this was matured in first fill and refill sherry casks before bottling by Gordon and MacPhail.
Tasting Note
Nose: Rich with cereal sweetness and warm barley. Apple blossom rises without effort and notes of malmsey and stewed fruits and Christmas punch emerge with spice and muffin.
Palate: Quite full and quite sweet. The cereal notes return with a syrupy texture. Shades of sherried sultanas and notes of freshly cut fruit salad, hints of toasty oak with obligatory vanilla spice and peppery warmth.
Finish: Long with the fruit and spice rising readily from the oak.
Mortlach 16 Year Old - Flora and Fauna 70cl 43%
Bottling Note
A full-bodied, sherried single malt from Mortlach, matured for 16 years and released as part of the Flora and Fauna series.
Tasting Note
Nose: Quite fresh and floral, with developing smoke. Notes of rubber spearmint leaves and gentle smoke with a hint of warm kippers.
Palate: Very well-balanced and the flavours firm and full. Notes of heather root and gentle wafting smoke with toffee sweetness. Juicy and thoroughly chewy sultanas and mixed peels with a hint of amontillado.
Finish: long and well-smoked with oaken warmth.
Mortlach 21 Year Old 1986 51.1 % - Mission (Murray McDavid) 70cl
Bottling Note:
From Murray McDavid's Mission range, this was distilled at Mortlach in 1986, matured in bourbon barrels and bottled at Bruichladdich in 2008 as part of an outturn of 648 bottles, at cask strength. The cask was specially selected by Bruichladdich's Master Distiller, Jim McEwan.
Mortlach 70 Year Old 70cl 46.1%
Mortlach 70 Bottling Note:
What can we say - this is now officially the world's oldest whisky at a barely believable 70 years of age. Stunningly presented, immaculately matured - this is the absolute epitome of all that old whisky can be.
Mortlach 70 Tasting Note:
Appearance: The colour of sun-bleached polished mahogany.
Aroma: A mellow nose, at once waxy and fruity; candlewax to the fore initially, which becomes snuffed candle (a thread of smoke), with Maraschino cherries in Madeira cake behind, and after a while an orangey citric note - fresh and juicy, becoming apricot jam. Flaked almonds and whin flowers, becoming light coconut oil.
Taste: Surprisingly lively tasted straight. A smooth, waxy mouthfeel; a sweetish start becoming moderately dry, but not overly-tannic. Dried fig and tobacco notes, and an intriguing light smokiness. A long finish and, for the first time, a hint of planed hardwood in the aftertaste. With a teaspoon of water, the smooth texture in enhanced. The fresh, light sweetness becoming pleasantly sour ('Soor Plooms'), with sooty smoke in the finish.
Comment: Remarkable! No trace of damp wood or must or bung cloth - a delicate, fresh, vital, fruity whisky, but with unusual attributes of waxiness and smokiness - uncommon today, more usual before the 1960s.
Mortlach 70 Bottling Note:
What can we say - this is now officially the world's oldest whisky at a barely believable 70 years of age. Stunningly presented, immaculately matured - this is the absolute epitome of all that old whisky can be.
Mortlach 70 Tasting Note:
Appearance: The colour of sun-bleached polished mahogany.
Aroma: A mellow nose, at once waxy and fruity; candlewax to the fore initially, which becomes snuffed candle (a thread of smoke), with Maraschino cherries in Madeira cake behind, and after a while an orangey citric note - fresh and juicy, becoming apricot jam. Flaked almonds and whin flowers, becoming light coconut oil.
Taste: Surprisingly lively tasted straight. A smooth, waxy mouthfeel; a sweetish start becoming moderately dry, but not overly-tannic. Dried fig and tobacco notes, and an intriguing light smokiness. A long finish and, for the first time, a hint of planed hardwood in the aftertaste. With a teaspoon of water, the smooth texture in enhanced. The fresh, light sweetness becoming pleasantly sour ('Soor Plooms'), with sooty smoke in the finish.
Comment: Remarkable! No trace of damp wood or must or bung cloth - a delicate, fresh, vital, fruity whisky, but with unusual attributes of waxiness and smokiness - uncommon today, more usual before the 1960s.
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