Slainte-Mhath
Mortlach 16 Year "Distiller's Dram"
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
July 18, 2020 (edited March 2, 2022)
The Beast of Dufftown in its new cloak - boy, that rebranding was so desperately needed. To hell with Mortlach's ultra-premium deluxe image! On the nose, blood oranges, cloves and heather jump at you. Raspberries, sage and honey follow shortly after, and there is an earthy note creeping in. Full-bodied and intense, the palate guides you through the flavor wheel: fruity, bitter and sour, then slightly dry, sweet and savory. Tangerine, peppermint and a touch of stout escort the long and cask-dominated finish. A great comeback of a characterful Speysider.
RATING: 4.0/5.0 stars ≙ 88 pts → FIRST-CLASS
73.0
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@cascode Looking forward to read your reviews! I tasted both Mortlach 12 and 16, and thoroughly enjoyed them. As @ScotchingHard pointed out in his review, the 16yo is not a full sherry monster, the sherry is well-integrated. It is so refreshing to see that Diageo abandoned Mortlach's deluxe positioning, and finally setting up a decent core range of malts.
According to Charlie Maclean it takes 6 months of training for a new stillman to learn the ropes at Mortlach. I have a bottle of the "new" 12 and 16 year old staring at me from the cabinet. Their time may be nigh 🙂
Additional comment: I guess you need a Master of Science to understand the logic behind Mortlach's 2.81x distillation. Anyway, it works well for them, so never touch a running system! I am just glad we got rid of these overpriced 0.5L bottles.