Monday, December 14, 2015

Whisky Review: Mortlach 'Rare Old' Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Holiday time again and you are searching for a whisky gift.  Maybe for yourself or someone else.  If it is someone else, you likely yearn to gift that whisky fan with an uncommon bottle of uncommon taste.  Johnnie Walker Black, Chivas, and Glenfiddich are too obvious.  Maybe you want to kick in a few dollars and get something really off the beaten track that is not a household name, even in a whisky household.  Your search can now end.  I present Mortlach 'Rare Old' for your consideration.

Mortlach is a distillery you may not know by name but may be familiar with in terms of taste.  It is a single malt that for the vast majority of its history was a key component in many blended Scotch whiskies, particularly Johnnie Walker.  According to the late Michael Jackson, the great pioneer of whisky criticism, Mortlach was highly sought for its' muscularity that gave structure and body to blends that would otherwise be listless.

Official single malt releases available from the distillery were scarce for a very long time.  Prior to 1995 or thereabouts, independent bottlers would occasionally release a bottle, having bought stocks from the distillery and carried out their own cask management.  As of late, Diageo (the owner of the brand) has made a bit of a push to promote this single malt.

This particular release from the distillery has no age statement and is not cheap.  In Canada, I paid $110.  Expensive in Australia too.  In the US and the UK, prices are better.  One Stateside reader reports this bottle can be had for $40 - $60 which is very reasonable.

ABV
43.4%

Format
750ml

Region
Speyside.

Age Statement
None.

Nose (undiluted)
Easy sherry, roses, violets, pleasant floral notes.

Palate (undiluted)
Thick, chewy sherry, salted milk chocolate with orange rind, hint of pomegranate, raisins and dark honey.

Finish (undiluted)
Fine graphite, pencil lead, malty, summer savory, za'atar, tumble weed dry sherry and beef stock in the background.








General Impressions
At the last meeting of my whisky club, the Mortlach Rare Old was the winner.  A close second was the Hart Brothers 17 years Port Finish Blended Malt.

Whisky Dawg Ken asked a Scotch whisky brand ambassador what single malt really impresses him other than his own distillery and he responded without missing a beat: "anything by Mortlach."  I really believe Mortlach is the choice of those in the 'know.'  I have enjoyed this malt before but always as a release by an independent bottler.  It impressed me then and does so now.  In this release, Diageo have taken care with the casks used, the blending, everything.  This is fine whisky.

This whisky is rich, luxuriant and velvety on the palate.  It may not be the best whisky in the world, but it beats the hell out of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, and reminds me why I love Scotch so much.  Don't be hoodwinked by the marketing of the Whisky Bible.  You wanna give a gift of a high quality single malt, Mortlach Rare Old is the ticket.  No bite, just smooth aged whisky with great qualities the sherry fiend is sure to enjoy.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

P.S.  The only negative is the price.  Quite high.  Mortlach Rare Old price is indicative of a disturbing trend in Scotch whisky:  high prices!  Prices are creeping higher and higher while age statements are dropped and causing an impact on quality (see Macallan no-age-statement releases).  This is not the case for all single malts (like Mortlach Rare Old), but it is a trend with other distilleries.  Mortlach Rare Old is a fine single malt but the price is very much on the upper end for what you should pay.  As it is the holidays I make an exception, but during the ordinary year, there is comparable value for money to be found with Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban for about about $40 less!

23 comments:

  1. I hate to tell you this but there has been a recent price drop on this and all of the Mortlach line. This bottle now seems to go for around $60 USD and I just saw it at Costco for $39 USD. Maybe you will be excited by that news as you really seem to like it. I should probably take a chance on it at $39 eh?

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    1. $60? $39? Awesome! Highly recommended at those prices. Just wish I could buy it in that range.

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    2. Low prices not true across the board in the US. Rare Old is currently retailing for $149+tax USD at Total Wine in WA so watch your prices.

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    3. Thank you Ryan for pointing that out. It is definitely not worth $149. Just not complex enough or magical. Few malts warrant such a high price.

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  2. Hey Jason... I can't say that I share your enthusiasm on the Mortlach Rare Old. This distillery has a reputation for having a "meaty" flavor profile and it's sometimes known as the "Beast of Dufftown" but I can't help but feel that this scotch is too well-behaved. I think the culprit is the inclusion of under-aged sherry casks... to my palate the sherry flavors taste "muted" and soft. I do find the peppery finish to be intriguing, but if they wanted to go for a "sweet-and-savory" experience I think they needed to beef up the sherry(Rare Old is, after all, an NAS, so there's definitely some young scotch blended here). Perhaps the 18 and 25 yr expressions are more satisfying but the prices on those bottles are very high.

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    1. I certainly agree with you that there is young whisky in this single malt, definitely younger than 12 years or they would have used that age statement in all likelihood. That said, the whiskies from this distillery making up Rare Old do not taste too young in a biting or raw sense. You are pointing out that the youth means the sherry notes are 'muted' and I would suggest they are muted when compared to older age statement Mortlach releases. Rare Old is Mortlach lite in that sense.

      Still, Rare Old is from my point of view a solid sherried dram that is balanced and without flaw.

      John, thanks for commenting. All the readers benefit from your insights. Keep 'em comin'!

      Happy Holidays!

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    2. Hey Jason... thanks for the kind words, and right back at you. I love this site and I particularly enjoy how you don't pull punches when it comes to drams that you feel are overrated or not up to snuff.

      In regards to Mortlach, I guess what annoys me is that Diageo apparently decided (on a whim) to make Mortlach a luxury brand... up until now, you're only chances of tasting it where special editions, independent bottlings, or buried somewhere in a blend (I read that Mortlach is one of the core malts in Johnnie Walker Red and I think this makes sense, adding to the spicy and sweet nature of that fiesty blend). In my opinion, malts need to deserve their "luxury" status, and I would give up the fancy bottle and oversized box for a malt with a little more balls.

      I've got a 15 year old Gordon & MacPhail Mortlach on my shelf waiting to be opened... that may give me the sherry and spicy punch that I felt was lacking in the Rare Old.

      Happy Holidays!

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  3. Jason we are just about to reserve our air B&B for February in Charlottetown with a moving date of 1 June.
    So this means you got the job as Official Supplier of Scotch to our Household, Warrant issued soon for your to post. Congratulations! We will be neighbours practically.

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    1. Sounds great! I look forward to the house warming party!

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  4. As you said ... price point... The Quinta Ruban is $20 less for 700ml compared to $110 for 500ml. Loved the QR.
    The local supplier also has a Gordon & MacPhail Mortlach 15yr for $120 .... Could that be something worth looking at ?

    AL (from OZ)

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    1. Canada and Australia/New Zealand suffer from the same problem: high taxes and mark up on liquor by government.

      My friend, George, says that if you want a great single malt you pretty much are facing a $100 price point and up. I cringe at you paying $120 for anything. Mortlach 15yr old could be quite good, but in the past it has been known to be inconsistent with sulphur notes.

      I just hate the thought of anyone paying $100 plus per bottle. But, where I live, Johnnie Walker Black is $52, Cragganmore 12 is $72 and Highland Park 12 is around $70. So, it would seem $100 is the new price point before entering the luxury malts.

      Of course, all these comments do not apply to the USA.

      Gordon and MacPhail would probably do justice to the Mortlach. I say that because i have never had a G&M bottling where I regarded I had paid too much.

      Anyway, I would pass on the $120 bottle. Wait for something truly great flying under the radar! I have one and it is coming up in the next review.

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  5. HI jason

    I really respect your previous posts and I seem to have very similar tasting experiences to yours. However I disagree with your assessment of Mortlach Rare Old. I did not find it to be smooth or velvety, but rather harsh, perhaps that's the meaty reference. I do agree that there are several better whiskies for that price and below. I have also found that many NAS claiming a rich luxury experience fall short of their claims. BTW keep up the excellent reviews. I read them regularly

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    1. Hi! The two different recently purchased bottles (one by me and one by a friend) have been very velvety and smooth. Maybe there is some inconsistency, but i would be surprised as this brand is owned by Diageo, and they are very consistent in terms of quality across all their brands.

      Anyhow, thank you for commenting and I hope to hear more from you in the future.

      Happy New Year!

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  6. Just picked up 2 bottles at costco in California for 39.99 and yes they still go for 119.00 at total wine and 129.00 at bevmo so a great deal.

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    1. $39.99 is a crazy great deal! Wow! And I thought Cali was a high tax state.

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  7. Picked up two bottles yesterday morning at Costco too...can't imagine there will be any left on my next visit

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    1. After you get the bottle open and tried it, would be great if you could comment with your impressions. Just a thumbs up or down would be good. Costco prices for this are crazy cheap! Great value bordering on larceny!

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    2. A couple years back I picked up a bottle of the 22 yr old Mortlach bottled by Alexander Murray at Costco for $49 (I think it had originally been $90). I have yet to open it but after reading your review I am intrigued.

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    3. In the past there had been some quality control problems with Mortlach,in particular tastes of sulphur notes.

      Hopefully, not the case with your bottle.

      Do try it and advise your impressions.

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  8. Hi there, Jason

    I just bought a bottle of the 1989 Alexander Murray 22 year Mortloch yesterday. There's no sulfur that I can detect, and the sherry notes are quite subdued. The label doesn't tell you much about the aging, only saying that this was "matured in oak casks". That's fine with me, as lately I'm finding too much Scotch whisky aged in wine casks to be a little over done. The flavor profile seems to be more Highland than Speyside - imagine Glenmorangie 10 left in the cask for a few more years with a hint of something like a Springbank 10 peat note. It's only bottled at 40% ABV, but this is still quite good. Like Cragganmore 12, it makes you wonder how much more flavor you might get if it had been bottled at a higher strength. My only other (small) criticism is that it has a rather short finish. Still, it's well worth buying if you can find it in the $50.00 price range.

    - Paul Massie

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    1. Thanks Paul!

      On an unrelated note, one to stay far away from is Tobermory 15yrs. Expensive and not good at all. A malt that clearly was left in the casks for too long. Has a meaty steak spice/sulphur note that makes me wince. Fortunately, my whisky club bought it so I didnt take the hit in the pocket book.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  9. Try an early 90's Mortlach or prior if you can get your hands on one. My geek friends bemoan the state of this distillery now and claim its a shadow of its former self.

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    1. Will do. While I enjoyed this I have been disappointed by other releases.

      Nice to hear from you again.

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