Mortlach Aged 16 Years Flora and Fauna Series Speyside Single Malt Whisky

$625 AUD

43% 70 cl

This single malt from the Flora & Fauna range was part of the 26-bottle-entry Flora & Fauna series, which was started in 1992 by United Distillers, pre- Diageo. The purpose was to showcase the whiskies that are usually used within their blends as single malts.

Best described as “a cracking malt from a great, but criminally underexposed distillery, Mortlach has a rich, complex, spicy sherried character and deserves far wider recognition. This looks set to change, with owners Diageo now pushing Mortlach into the spotlight with some new bottlings”.

This particular expression is now moving into the rarity category.

Tasting Notes

Overall - Wonderfully rich, smooth, and satisfying, with a unique herbal backbone surrounded by malty meat and lovely sherry.

Colour – Radiant reds and amber accents. Mortlach 16 Flora and Fauna practically glows with inner light.

Nose – A whiff of solvents give way to succulent berries and plums overhanging a wonderfully herbal and feinty nose of rich leather, toffee, varnish, faint citrus, dense foliage, and meaty broth.

Palate – Richer by the sip, with a malty, meaty, nutty body balanced by stewed sherry fruits, roasting herbs, soft caramel, and restrained woody spices. Deep and luscious.

Finish – Rhubarb compote in an oak bowl with a copper spoon, and small piece of licorice on the side. (Singular Malts)

This product is located in Australia.

Distillery

Mortlach Distillery

This is one of the Dufftown distilleries and by far the oldest dating back to1823, the next not appearing until 1887 in the form of Glenfiddich. A bewildering number of owners of Mortlach came and went until John Walker & Sons purchased it a hundred years later from the Cowie family in 1923, two years before Walker’s became part of DCL. George Cowie & Son Limited continued as a subsidiary of Walker’s and was for a long time the licensee of Mortlach and so that connection remained for many years.

Without going into exacting detail, suffice to say here that Mortlach’s claim to fame is its unique method of distillation – not quite triple distillation but close to it and producing a particularly robust whisky in much demand by the blenders for its richness of flavour and bouquet, but also highly prized, for much the same reasons, as a single malt. It is, thus, a very different animal from the other, more traditional Speyside distilleries in the vicinity. It remains an important component of the Johnnie Walker blends, which may be why its future and, indeed, expansion is assured. The relatively scarce early examples as a single malt, whether from the distillery itself or from the independent bottlers, will surely see their values increase as Mortlach becomes better known.