Mortlach 12 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Bold flavor without big smoke. Known as “The Beast of Dufftown”, Mortlach Single Malt Scotch whiskies are known and loved for being refined, complex and elegant.  This 12-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky has been double cask matured in both European and American oak to enhance the distinctively rich and robust character that makes Mortlach whiskies legendary. An ode to the smallest yet most essential of our six copper stills–"The Wee Witchie"–our Mortlach 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky has been distilled 0.81 times more than Scotch tradition, graced with a touch of magic from "The Wee Witchie". First forged over 120 years ago, we've ensured every dent and detail of our smallest still remains unchanged, because it is within this copper chamber that the specific richness of taste has earned Mortlach the reputation as "The Beast of Dufftown". Sweet and spicy with notes of dark chocolate, cherry jam and light tobacco, this Scotch Whisky is best served neat or on the rocks with a few drops of water to release the beastly complexity. Established in 1823, the Mortlach distillery was the first legal distillery in Dufftown, and it has long continued to set the standard. To this day, this unique Speyside owes much to the brave vision of its greatest owners–George Cowie and his son Dr. Alexander Mitchell Cowie, who pioneered the complex '2.81 distillation' process. Refined and elegant, Mortlach stands out among its regional counterparts: a wild child overlaying the traditional sweeter notes with an intensity of flavor. Mortlach 12 Year is one of three new core whiskies for Mortlach replacing Rare Old, Special Strength, 18 Year and 25 Year which were introduced in 2014. Morlach is known for producing meaty, sulphury whiskies with its distillation process in a method called "The Way". They boast a 2.81 times distillation process invented in 1896 using a variety of shapes and sizes of pot stills which is far too difficult to explain here. Tasting Notes: Appearance: Coppery honey Nose: Rich and deep, with immediate warming, toasty oak tones (wood shavings) and a light peachy element that moves towards honey and then cooked fruits hinting at good depth. Some chestnut helps to add a sweet nutty background alongside hints of wax crayon. This impression of oak, sandalwood, light spice, and fruit - now with some dried berries - slowly gives way to some charred elements, hard (Highland) toffee and some light meatiness. Once this is established (and it takes time) it starts to deepen, earthy, petrichor, (the smell of early autumn), dried blossom, pineapple, and bitter orange that itself extends into Terry’s chocolate orange and then cooked plum. As it dries so the woodland gives way to a coal bunker/lichen encrusted logs in a woodpile. Body: Medium to heavy, with a thick texture. Palate: A sweet, almost peachy, concentrated start with a little oak and almost smoky (charred) element. It is at its most expressive on the mid-palate where you pick out bitter chocolate, marmalade and light tobacco that’s balanced by a puddle of syrup before it deepens further and starts to grip, there’s liquorice, roast chestnut, tree bark, roasting coffee, and a burnt edge which might be the sulphur working its way out. As it develops so you get bourbon biscuit, then the meaty flavors which themselves have the herbal qualities of goat or lamb. The grip loosens, and light gets back in with things getting sweeter and spicier. Finish: Quite dry and slightly sooty/ashy with oak (fresh-sawn timber), Malt, dried orchard fruit and spice. There is some plum with an added hint of bitterness.   Brand: Mortlach Distiller: Mortlach Bottler: Distillery Bottling Bottling Serie: The Wee Witchie Bottled: 2018 Country: Scotland Region: Speyside Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley Cask Type: Ex-Sherry, Ex-Bourbon Age: 12 Years Old ABV: 43.4%