Jose-Massu-Espinel
Mortlach 15 Year (Game of Thrones Six Kingdoms)
Single Malt — Scotland
Reviewed
December 30, 2021 (edited January 4, 2022)
Ok, it has been a while now since Diageo's Game Of Thrones releases hit the market with lots of bad reviews with some honorable exceptions. Having said that, i remember how expensive some of the expressions were, and this Mortlach 15yo Six Kingdoms was one of those. Don't get me wrong, i haven't had too many Mortlachs in the past, and somehow i thought this one was going to be very good since the price they were asking for it, seemed to be linked to some quality of the "juice" in comparison to other GOT bottlings.
Well, i am glad i waited, and just bought a cheap sample of it, since this whisky was another dud from that collection. They are not bad, but most of them aren't good either, and you can say that only Talisker and Lagavulin were good enough. (Then again, it is hard for Lagavulin and Talisker to make bad single malts).
This Mortlach 15yo Game Of Thrones was bottled at 46%abv, with a golden color.
On the nose, it is very similar to a Cardhu. Yellow apples, honey, hay. Fruity and floral.
So floral it feels like polen; Definitively itchy on the nose. It is itchy, not spicy. Red berries. Aroma has changed into grapefruit. Very fresh and fruity. Its like an apple infused tea.
On the palate, it gave me bitter tobacco and grass. It is too similar to a Cardhu. Old apples, some honey. After a first sip, it gave me pepper, salt and dried grass.
A third sip was like a honeyed cough syrup, which actually is something appealing.
Aftertaste starts with a very little smoke note, almost ghostly; salt and dry grass. Mostly salty. Medium long, hints of sider. Old apples. Bitter tobacco.
Overall, to describe it properly, It has the saltiness of an Oban, with some of the Speyside fruitiness and tobacco/grassy notes from Cardhu. I told you i haven't had too many Mortlachs, and i am starting to think that Diageo has a profile that they seek in their distilleries. I can see this malt blending in a good way with other peaty malts to make a Johnnie Walker. Not impressed, not depressed; it is just a normal, boring dram, my score for it is 78 over 100.
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@cascode i agree 100%.
@cascode that strategy worked until they started to make runs and readily available. The “limited” starting wearing off and we all realized the liquid wasn’t that good
@PBMichiganWolverine It was aimed at GoT fans unashamedly and packaged as a “set” to make it seem collectible, but this was never more than a marketing ploy. The whiskies were all at least average-to-good and a couple were bordering on very good, but nothing was outstanding and a set is not something that will appreciate significantly over time. The same money spent on a few Longrow Reds or Springer 12s would have been a way better investment.
@Scott_E to think the entire series went for $2000+ in secondary when it first came out. After a glut of batch 2 and 3, it then sat on shelves
@Jose-Massu-Espinel I was able to find this last year for $79. The asking price of $140 would have been a no-go for me. I can find better than things to buy for that price.
PS - the official bottling 16 year old and the Gordon & Macphail contract independent 15 year old are both cheaper and leave this for dead,
@cascode i agree that this was overpriced since you can actually get better whiskies for $80
Mortlach can taste like literally anything, particularly when it is independently bottled. It ranges from light and grassy through to meaty, but it’s never boring. This GoT was one of the more average expressions and IMHO it was absurdly overpriced.