Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Great whisky, but it did not meet my expectations. The aroma is fresh, grape, wine, lemon peel, a little woodiness and maybe peach. The taste is fresh, fruity, vinous sweetness with a hint of bubbles, but I miss the typical fleshiness of Mortlach... The alcohol stings a bit... And the price tag?!

It was definitely an 85-point whisky. Now, about three years after opening, it has become an 88-point whisky.

Quite fruity and drinkable

A very successful experiment

Quick hit review. Online tasting 05/2023. The Lure of the Blood Moon? Does the age statement hide behind the owl or the overblown price tag? Oh, there is none. Restrained and indistinctly herbal, the nose reveals citrus zest, honeydew melon and lemongrass. On the palate, rich fruits are followed by dry spices, wine gums and juicy papaya. A moment of weakness, this tastes good! Sugar-coated oak, apricot jam and a touch of soda pop linger in the finish. It's not a bad malt, but you can certainly do better for £250. Much better. RATING: 3.7/5.0 stars ≙ 85 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE [+]

For me it's certainly more than 85 points, especially if I don't look for the price tag... Overall texture is very bright fruit bomb - e.g., white sparkling wine, tangerine, peach, mangosteen, with powdery touch of cosmetics. Mortlach's distillate character (meaty palate) is very weak, and unfortunately the finish is a bit too spicy.

Mortlach's unique character, intuitive and strong malt, various fruits, overall simplicity

Finished in red-muscat and tawny-port casks, and also has a little bit of virgin-oak-finished whisky in the mix.

Hint of leather, citrus, orchard fruits, honey, pepper, cookie dough, fruity and pleasant

Aroma - sweetness has completely disappeared, vegetable stew, stewed vegetables, cloves, bouquet of herbs. On the background there are red berries, cranberries in sugar. The taste is creamy and sweet! Red berries, gum, wine, mint. Quite spicy ginger, nutmeg and pepper. Tasty. The aftertaste is sweet and slightly drying, with a hint of port wine barrels. This is the beast from Dufftown. It constantly attacks the entire organaleptic palette and receptors.

Artificial fruit candy, perfume, ... My summary this year: The Talisker convinced me and is my favorite this year. The Lagavulin is on hold because it always has a few points in the open bottle catching up. Next up this year is the Cardhu worth mentioning as far as the sweet ones go likes notes of rum finish. The singleton is ok, but goes very much in the wine direction. Everyone else disappointed me. Unfortunately I haven't been able to try the Cameronbridge yet My ranking of the SR 2022: Talisker 11-year-old 88 Cardhu 16-year-old 87 Lagavulin 12-year-old 86 (it gets better! towards 88+) Singleton 15-year-old 86 Oban 10-year-old 85 Clynelish 12-year-old 84 Mortlach NAS 82 Cameronbridge 26-year Not tested

Diageon Special Release 2022 series cask-strength bottle.

Color light gold. Nose fresh orchard fruits to ripe banana. Taste english toffee. Nutneg and cinnamon. Medium and drier finish. Not the most typical Mortlach with heavy meaty sweet notes. Re-taste 2025 after good time with opened bottle: the Mortlach identity more in the front now. Meaty on the nose, less spicy tastewise. More genuine even here.

It seems spicy, relatively young, but has a nice aromatic touch. When water is added, it quickly breaks down into its components and the youth becomes completely clear. What a rip off. Selling something so skinny, young, fake and ageless for that money...you can't forgive that, even with really stylish packaging. Under all guns!

it does remind me of the Mortlach of old. but something is missing. this deep fatty taste i used to love perhaps. this is fine, but never special, it seems to come with some red fruity, drying sensation, probably due to the finish

It has a subtle dusty vibe and isn't bad, but considering the price, it's bad.

Very punchy and spicy, sweet and tart, berries at forefront, not a dram for me.

We did a blind tasting. It's very delicious. I had the impression that the finish was weak, but this disadvantage can actually be an advantage in that you can drink several glasses. Of course, this expression is only valid when the nose and palette are excellent, and this liquor seems to fit that description. In terms of the scent, it has a lot of refreshing scents that you would expect from a well-fermented Speyside whisky, and in terms of the taste, it shows a strong sweetness of grapes that feels like a spoonful of dessert wine was mixed in. Fortunately, the harmony is not unbalanced, so the taste was overall satisfactory. Judging from the fact that the malty flavor is alive, it doesn't seem to be long-aged. If I were to guess, it seems to be a Scotch whisky aged (or finished) in a first-fill PX cask for less than 12 years as a Speyside whisky. Despite the low aging, there is almost no dirty taste, but there are so many distilleries in Speyside that produce such pure flavors... I don't know about the distillery.

Golden color. Slightly oily structure.

S 7 Not the Mortlach I'd usually expect. This screams creamy and sweet. Very much low tannin fortified red wine nose and palate. [83-85] I'll get a bottle unless my bank account says otherwise. N 26 Rich, oily nose. A lot of red fruits (grapes, plums). Honey. Oak. Toffee. Ashy malt & match sticks (why?). A whiff of dry oregano. P 27 SWEET start. Orchard fruits (apples, pears, peaches). Sticky and heavy mouthfeel. Heated spices that quickly burnt out. Mild wine tannin astringency. Orange peel. Malt slowly surfacing. Honey is all over the place. Becomes quite savoury after 15 mins in the glass. F 24 Mid, sweet, slightly dry finish. Dry hay. A mild touch of fruit confectionaries lingering.

The aroma was woody and fruity, with an occasional spirited prickle and hints of walking into a flower shop with potting soil and fresh-cut flower stems. An autumn rack stuffed with dried firewood waiting for the winter chill lingered throughout with stewed plums and dates, lacquered wood, purple drink, grape jelly, and dry champagne. Medium-bodied with a balanced mouthfeel, the flavor profile was fruity and spicy with a slightly bitter finish and mild-spirited prickle. Stewed plums, dates, and pears matched with a spice bag of anise, cinnamon, orange peel, and rose petal. Herbal, almost tea-like notes carried on with grape and various notions of wood: lacquered, freshly chopped, toasted, or even musty, slightly rotten oak. A mild bitterness came through at the end with a spirited prickle and astringency. The finish was medium-length with subtle dried fruit, grape, and herbal tea. For an equivalent disappointment to this dram, look no further than Hannah Waddingham’s appearance in the Disney TV show “Willow.” The actress had a brief role as Hubert, the ax-wielding woodsman before she was promptly killed off without the character doing much more than providing an odd woodland vignette. I reckon Tom Bombadil played a more significant role in the plot of Lord of the Rings than Hubert in Willow. Okay, I am ranting off subject here, but this whisky had the same potential for greatness but seemed to squander it without accomplishing much. The raw elements of this Mortlach were nice— there were some lovely fruits and plenty of intriguing herbal notes, which indicated a nice balance between wine cask and spirit. However, the flavors were not always well-integrated, with oak sometimes muscling everything else out of the way with a suboptimal bitterness. Additionally, the malt was a tad spirited and rough around the edges at times. Nothing fatal, perhaps, but an unfortunate series of demerits for a special release. I gave the dram a nice dilution to about 30% abv and found more potting soil on the nose with a hint of musty wet cardboard; on the palate, the mouthfeel was oilier with water, and the flavors more balanced without any spirited prickle. Overall, not bad. You can see where the master blenders were going with this malt, and they were close to achieving something akin to the Cragganmore special release from 2016, which also lacked an age statement. Yet, the experience never came together, and for the 200 USD and up asking price, there are many more attractive options.

Balances near-threshold savory and vegetal notes without letting them dominate. The interplay of multiple cask types works to its advantage — a well-executed and dynamic NAS expression.

It has flavor, and a rather unique aroma, but it's too strong, and the alcohol content is too high.

Matured in Tawny Port & red Muscat & Virgin Oak barrels. N: The Beast! Yes, the beast of Dufftown immediately asserts itself on the nose. It is robust, rich and umami. Ragout with oregano, pickles (really!) and cloves, followed by aroma's of red fruit, blue grapes and a panoply of herbs. Remember the Mortlach 15 Year Old from the Game of Thrones? This is the bodybuilder version. S: Nicely umami, indeed. And creamy. And especially sweet! Red lace candy, wine gums, mint. Pretty spicy on ginger, nutmeg and pepper. Nice and complex creature, indeed. The high ABV does not detract from this at all and is even a strength (see what I did there? ). Delicious. F: The finish is sweet and gently drying with the port barrels now making their mark. A slight bitterness on the deathbed like from a good vermouth. C: A Mortlach without age indication and yet about 300 EUR? Fortunately, it is excellent, well balanced and without a doubt complex.

a very rich and tasty whisky. sampled this at the now closed Usquabae Bar in Edinburgh. *the whiskies rated under 70% do not fit the astringency profile i am looking for, but are good, tasty whiskies - great for casual enjoyment and everyday drams with friends. the whiskies rated 70% or above either hit the astringency profile or are promising candidates for the astringency journey. 70% is low astringency, the higher the percentage, the higher the astringency. 100% is astringency perfection. :)

Well, I've expected a lil bit more here.. but it's a solid and decent dram.

I haven't had any good New Mochter drinks overall, and this one is no exception. The blend of the three barrels didn't result in 1+1+1>3; instead, it felt like the flaws of each barrel were combined into one.

Aroma: Citrus, alcohol burn, musty raisin, spicy, sweet It strongly evokes the feeling of wine. I can sense the characteristic mustiness of wine, along with fruit and citrus aromas. The alcohol burn is strong, and the scent emerges with a blend of sweet and citrus notes. A strong, musty sensation reminiscent of grape tannins is dominant. Flavor: Sweet, spicy, strong flavor, berries, spices When you first drink it, you feel a strong booziness, followed by strong sweetness and spiciness. Towards the end, a faint sweetness characteristic of berries lingers, and a spice-like spiciness remains at the finish. Finish: Sweet, heavy, dry tannins The sweet finish leaves a heavy, lingering aftertaste. Afterwards, a strong tannic sensation of grapes is felt.

Not a rousing success and I’m not entirely sure what to make of this no-age-statement NAS.