Mortlach is often described as a meaty whisky. I've had little experience with it, but hopefully this session will give me a fuller picture of what Mortlach has to offer.
Mortlach 10yo 1989-1999 43% James MacArthur's
No high hopes here, but I could be surprised. There are many young IB bottlings out there at low strength which are well over decent. But James MacArthur's bottles almost all their casks at CS, so I can only slightly assume that their watered down bottlings are a bit sub-par. Much like some of the CC-bottlings from G&M. It smells peppery, grainy, old wood, oak chips, peppery, roasted aromas. The taste has some oily and waxy notes, and just a bit licorice and grainy. The aftertaste is just a tad better, a lot of cinnamon, wax, old wood, tobacco shop, lemon.
Middle of the road, in all aspects: 5
Mortlach 22yo 1969-1991 50.5% Cadenhead's
Nice golden brown hue on this old Mortlach. By vintage the oldest one in this session. It smells rich, minty, cigars, cough syrup, peppery, toffee. Seems very fresh after all these years. The taste is very citrussy, lime, oranges, kiwi, lime, strawberries, mango, fruity with emphasis on citrus. Additional water. Opens up the nose with more rustic notes. The taste is now more on sherried notes, bitterness, fino, not a favorable choice for me, but if you like an earthy and bitter sherried whisky, please add a few drops to this one.
Fruity at high strength: 6
Mortlach 19yo 1992-2012 51.5% Cadenhead's
From a sherry cask. With a nice orange marmalade hue. It smells damp, bitter herbs, mushroom mould, a really weird one. The taste is bittersweet, lime and syrup, very easy to drink, a bit harder to enjoy. The finish is really what saves this whisky from a bad rating, it comes off as whiffs of burnt clay, green pepper, chili, long and drying, leather, rubber, still very weird and I find it a bit hard to describe further. At least, I can say, there is no meaty notes in this one.
Fitting in with the misfits: 3
Mortlach 32yo 1971-2002 50.1% OB
The oldest by cask time in this session, and I'm a bit excited as I'm now about to cover distillation from every decade from 1960-1990's. The color is golden. It smells much bigger than the rest, stewed mushrooms, butter, salt, peat, vegetable broth, cigars, mustard, lots of mustard actually. What amazes me a bit is that its very little, or not at all, oaky. The taste is rather light, even more mustard, some peppery notes, strawberry jam, ginger, a bitter bite which makes the finish a bit more interesting.
One to enjoy while in the glass, the consumption is a bit MOTR: 5.5
Mortlach 10yo 1989-1999 60.8% James MacArthur's
One from the Old Master's selection. I think this might be from the same cask as the first I had this session as it seems some bottlers do dillute or sell away parts of a cask and bottles the rest in premier series to show diversity. Anyway, if it is the same as the 43%, which was by no means bad, I think I might be in for a nice surprise, only time will tell. The color is hazy, sort of grey/yellow. It smells bacon, salty water, onions soup, cheddar, parmesano reggiano, swiss cheese, butter, fried mushrooms. Wow! The taste is way drying, concentrated and bitter. Needs water instantly I think. The taste is now rustic, gorgonzola dolce, wheat beer, ginger, caramel, dry white wine, mushrooms and herbs, oily.
It didn't need water: 6.5
Next tasting: Benriach Distillery
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar