Category: Mortlach | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

December 24, 2016December 23, 2016

24 drams till Christmas 2016 #24: Mortlach 1954 58yo by Gordon & MacPhail

Dram data:
Distillery: Mortlach
Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Distilled: 27.01.1954
Bottled: 20.11.2012
Age: 58 years
Limitation: 347 bottles
Casks: 1st Fill Sherry Butt
Alcohol: 43%
chillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Let’s review the oldest whisky in the house – 58-year-old Mortlach, to be exact… just because it’s Christmas!

Tasting notes:
Colour: mahogany
The nose starts out surprisingly restrained. Not an over-oaked dram at all, as I initially feared. Delicate even, but what a nose! Lots going on in the glass! A myriad of warm, sweet, dried fruits. Seriously! An abundance of dried plums, cherries, figs and a sneaky date as well. But oh so mellow and as elegant as dried fruits can be! Of course we’ve also got spices. But mellowed, gentle spices, no harshness at all. Cloves, a cinnamon stick, bay leaves and allspice. And herbs. Wormwood, perhaps? But that’s not all, of course. The fruits and spices are accompanied by cherry-flavoured pipe tobacco with black cavendish, the leather jacket of an orchard worker, an bee-keeper’s oak cabinet and a slice of chocolate fruit cake. Dense, interwoven, layered, “aged” and still very elegant. What a nose! I really hope the palate will be the same! Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas 2016 #24: Mortlach 1954 58yo by Gordon & MacPhail”

December 1, 2015October 7, 2016

24 drams till Christmas tasting #1: Mortlach 1988 26 yo by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: Mortlach
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1988
Bottled: 10.2015
Age: 26 years
Limitation: 570 bottles
Casks: Sherry
Alcohol: 56.1%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: honey
The nose opens with quite a bit of alcohol and the signature meaty notes of sherry-matured Mortlach. I think last year’s bottling was a tad richer if I remember correctly (and re-read my tasting notes on that one). Let’s give it some time. *tick tock tick tock*. Well, as meaty as they come. Influenced by old european oak sherry casks too – leather, dampened spices, grandma’s old wardrobe (but in a good way), caramel, semi-dark chocolate and old ginger root. Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas tasting #1: Mortlach 1988 26 yo by Cadenhead’s”

July 22, 2015October 7, 2016

Tasting: Mortlach 11y 2003 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: Mortlach
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 2003
Bottled: 2015
Age: 11 years
Limitation: 558 bottles
Casks: bourbon hogshead(s)
Alcohol: 57,3%
unchillfiltered; natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: light straw
The nose starts out on a light note with malt, vanilla, apricots and a hint of meatiness (or is that just autosuggestion?). Pretty strong on the alcohol at 57% ABV, this needs some water to allow further investigation. The alcohol is gone, the dram remains light. An at least 2nd fill hoggie I’d guess. Continue reading “Tasting: Mortlach 11y 2003 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s”

December 9, 2014October 7, 2016

Tasting: Mortlach 1988 25y by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: Mortlach
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1988
Bottled: July 2014
Age: 25
Limitation: 576 bottles
Price at the time of purchasing: – (sample)
Casks: Sherry Cask
Alcohol: 56,8%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: golden amber
The nose immediately emits lots and lots of dark, mysterious, moody character. I don’t usually visually depict a malt, but this is an old, wise, yet loving and caring old man sitting in his leather armchair. Weird how our sense of smell can bring up these kinds of visual images. Continue reading “Tasting: Mortlach 1988 25y by Cadenhead’s”