A 13-year old single cask Mortlach from independent bottler Cadenhead's, bottled in 2017 during their 175th anniversary. This is how "The Beast of Dufftown" should be treated!
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Like many of Diageo's underappreciated distilleries, for many years there was only one option for lovers of Speyside's Mortlach Distillery; the independent bottlers. The likes of Signatory Vintage and particularly Gordon & MacPhail have bottled some excellent Mortlachs, including the 15-year old in their "Distillery Labels" range which was basically a surrogate official bottling. It was these independent bottlings that earned Mortlach's reputation amongst whisky aficionados, something that it continues to enjoy today. Diageo did release a Flora & Fauna bottling in the mid-2000s that is reported to be one of the best in that rather large range of semi-core range bottlings, which is now reflected in its rarity and the pricing on the secondary market. The gigantic drinks corporation did eventually realise what they were squandering by only tipping Mortlach malt in to their blended products, and in 2014 they decided to release a small range of single malt official bottlings. Unfortunately they made a complete hash of it by only presenting it in 500ml bottlings, pricing it too highly, adding artificially colouring, and chill filtering, and only bottling it at 43.4% ABV - with the exception of one travel retail (duty free) exclusive and a couple of cask strength bottlings in their annual Special Releases program in 2021. Unfortunately they also made a complete hash of those by snorting a little cocaine before deciding on their pricing, which saw non-age statement bottlings from a relatively obscure distillery priced at $350-400 AUD. Mortlach did also make an appearance in the corporation's Game of Thrones bottlings, surprisingly bottled at 46% ABV and in 700ml format, but I'm yet to try that one. Diageo did realise their mistake with the core range bottlings, re-launching them in 700ml bottles a few years later. Unfortunately they decided to stick with the 43.4% ABV, even in the $350 AUD 20-year old bottling, and left their standard artificial colouring and chill filtration practices in place. Which is where the official single malt bottlings still remain today, after some inevitable price rises of course.
Mortlach enjoys the reputation it does because of the style of its single malt, which is heavy, meaty, sulphurous, and characterful, hence the colloquial nickname "The Beast of Dufftown" since it's easily the heaviest single malt produced in that area. This is also why the distillery's malt was highly prized for blended whiskies, adding weight and texture. In my experience Mortlach tends to work particularly well in ex-Oloroso sherry casks, which is something that Diageo are yet to give us - even in the massively overpriced Special Releases, where they've instead used wine casks, virgin oak casks, and even port & muscat fortified wine casks. Silly pricing aside, that may be the idea behind most of the bottlings in the Special Releases range, but it's not what we whisky geeks want! Mortlach is unrecognisable compared to its more famous Dufftown neighbours; Glenfiddich and Balvenie, and it's nearly 65-years older than Glenfiddich, having been founded in 1823. 100-years later the distillery was sold to John Walker (yes, that one) & Sons, which became part of DCL a few years later, which in turn became part of Diageo. Annual output is a relatively large 3.7-million litres of spirit, achieved through six large wooden washbacks and six pot stills, a relatively short fermentation time of 53-hours (roughly half of most modern distilleries) and a relatively fast distillation speed. That heavy, meaty, sulphurous character in the Mortlach spirit is partly down to the externally-located worm tub condensers fitted to all six stills, but the fermentation and distillation times also have an impact, as does the shape & design of the stills, and the distillery's unique distillation regimen which has been in place since the late 1890s! Mortlach's spirit is distilled a sum total of 2.81-times, through a complicated and very convoluted system.
The very-short version is that some of the final spirit has been distilled twice, some three times, and some four times, resulting in a mathematical total of 2.81-times. The less-short version is that the heads & tails from two of the three wash stills are combined with the heads & tails from two of the three spirit stills, with that liquid then being filled into the first spirit still, affectionately dubbed "Wee Witchie" thanks to it resembling a witches' hat in shape. But that's not where the weirdness ends, because nothing is collected from this spirit still during after that distillation run! Instead this first distillation run is a "blind run" or "dud run" where no cuts are taken before it is run again, and the entire contents have been distilled a second time in the same still. So some of the resulting spirit has been distilled three times - once through a wash still, then twice through Wee Witchie - and some has been distilled four times - once through a wash still, once through another spirit still, and then twice through Wee Witchie. As for the third wash still and the third spirit still, those two are paired together and are operated conventionally, meaning the heart of that spirit run was only distilled twice. Like I said, rather convoluted, and the resulting heavy & meaty spirit is not recommended for beginners who might be expecting a light, sweet, and fruity Speyside dram like those produced up the road!
This particular Mortlach is a 13-year old single cask bottling from Cadenhead's, the independent bottler owned by J&A Mitchell, the company behind Springbank and Glengyle (producing Kilkerran) distilleries. This is Scotland's oldest independent bottler, having been founded in 1842! This 13-year old was distilled in 2003 and was initially matured in a refill hogshead (250-litre cask) for roughly 11-years before being filled into a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask of the same size. It spent roughly 3.5-years in that sherry cask before being bottled in mid-2017 at a cask strength of 55.1% ABV, with a yield of 306 bottles. Naturally it is non-chill filtered and natural colour, like all single malts from J&A Mitchell. The sherry cask bottlings from Cadenhead's would normally be packaged in a dark red box, but 2017 was the 175th anniversary of Cadenhead's, which saw selected bottlings packaged in the tartan box seen below, plus the addition of a copper neck tag embossed with the same "175" logo. I purchased this bottle at auction in Britain a few years ago, and it wasn't cheap with shipping and duties included. But here in 2025, and for the quality it offers, it was a relative bargain! Let's see how it goes.
Cadenhead's Mortlach 13-Year Old, 55.1%. Speyside, Scotland.
Distilled 2003, initially matured in refill hogshead, finished in first-fill Oloroso sherry hogshead from 12/2014, bottled mid-2017 (finished for 3.5-years approx.). Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 306 bottles.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Spicy, dried fruit, tickles the nose hairs! Prunes & raisins, black cherries, crystallised / candied ginger, wood spices, and butter cream icing. Gravy powder, beef stock, and a touch of marmite. Bitter dark chocolate with coffee beans.
Texture: Heavy weight. Thick & chewy, spicy & meaty. No heat here, the texture hides it well!
Taste: Great thick & meaty feel with beef stock, gravy powder, ground ginger, and dates. Fruit & nut dark chocolate with a bit of rum & raisin ice cream. Nutty toffee, tea tree oil, and a little bitter orange peel.
Finish: Long length. More orange peel, beef stock, and gravy powder. Ginger syrup, marmalade, and more nutty toffee - hazelnuts mainly. Some dried fruit leather / roll-ups, dark chocolate, and coffee beans. Butter cream icing again with that tea tree oil.
Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Notes: Delicious Mortlach that really belies its age. Plenty of complexity and, for my tastes at least, the perfect amount of sherry cask influence. That cask influence hasn't added much sweetness, letting the drier side of Mortlach's character shine. Great balance of meaty & spicy notes with fruit & oak, while that chewy texture helps balance out the dryness. One of my favourite Mortlachs to date, particularly at a relatively young age. This 13-year old has character & texture that the NAS & core range official bottlings can only dream of! Independent bottlings like this Cadenhead's single cask are exactly why Mortlach has such a cult following among enthusiasts. Great stuff!
Cheers!
