Review by: The Muskox

I had to come back down to earth sometime after my run of 70s vintages, closed distilleries, Campbeltown handfills and whatnot. Here’s a relatively more normal whisky from everyone’s favourite meaty Speysider (or, some people’s at least).

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Distillery: Mortlach.

Bottler: Hunter Laing.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 50%, cask strength.

Age: 11 years old. Distilled November 2004. Bottled in November 2015.

Cask type: Wine Finished Refill Hogshead.

Color: Straw. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Spirited and spirity. Dominantly tropical fruit – banana, coconut, hibiscus, some crystallized pineapple, and maybe a little guava too. Past that, there are sweet custardy notes of crème brulee and rum-spiked egg nog. Slightly gingery and grassy.

Palate: Medium-thick, getting thicker as it develops. Rich tropical fruits and vanilla on the arrival, before developing to very Mortlachy meatiness and deep, almost-savoury caramel, along with some black pepper, spicy ginger, and toasted sesame oil. The back end is Asian pear, banana, pineapple, and more nog.

Finish: Medium-light, getting quite sweet and more vanilla’d. Those hard yogurt-‘n’-fruit candies, orange sherbet, vanilla bean, candied bananas, and crystallized honey. More sesame oil.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Christmas teppanyaki cookout on the beach”

Notes: Not the most complex dram in the world, but a damn tasty one. It’s right on the boundary of classic meaty-Mortlach and more modern grassy-Mortlach, with nice tropical fruit and creamy vanilla throughout. Great thick texture, too. I didn’t really pick up any wine to speak of, except for maybe the sweetness on the finish. I think the simplicity, particularly on the finish, is what keeps this from an even higher score. I’m not sure where you’d find this bottling nowadays, but maybe it’s worth looking out for some of these early-2000s young Mortlachs if they’re all this good.

Final Score: 85.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.