Mortlach was founded in 1823 and became, in 1853, the first licensed distillery in Dufftown. Its reputation rests entirely on one man: Alexander Cowie, son of the original owner, who in 1896 reconfigured the stillhouse into the strange asymmetric arrangement that still stands today. Six stills of varying sizes, a wee still known as the Wee Witchie, and a partial-distillation system that yields an average of 2.81 distillations per batch — neither double nor triple, but a deliberate in-between.
The result is a whisky of unusual weight and savoury depth, long sold almost exclusively to blenders (most notably Johnnie Walker) and jealously hoarded by those in the know. For most of the twentieth century a bottle of single-malt Mortlach was a rarity. That changed in 2014 when Diageo relaunched the range, and again in 2018 when the current line-up — 12, 16 and 20 year old — was introduced. The 18 sits between, released as an ongoing expression at 43.4% ABV.
Matured in a mix of refill and first-fill ex-sherry casks, this is Mortlach in its Sunday tweed. The meatiness that defines the spirit is present but civilised by eighteen years of wood; the sherry adds dried fruit and cocoa without drowning the distillate's peculiar umami signature. It drinks like a whisky that belongs on a mahogany sideboard beside a decanter of port.
Not cheap, and not a starter malt. But for those who want to understand why blenders fought over Mortlach for a century, this is the expression where the Beast of Dufftown puts on a dinner jacket without losing its teeth.
