Mortlach Signatory Unchillfiltered 1995 18YO
Cream and Pepper
0 192
Review by @Nemesis101
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall92
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Very pale coloured for an 18yo malt; somewhat of a testament to Signatory's commitment to releasing natural whisky.
Nose: Vanilla with aniseed. Caramel laden with pepper. Fudgey Ice-Cream but strongly tempered by this peppery, almost chilli-like overlay. Jekyll and Hyde melded together well.
Palate: Aniseed and then becomes creamy. Peppery whiff through the nose. A sweet caramel taste follows. I'm getting a silky-coating mouthfeel. But simultaneously also a peppery-chilli prickly edge. Creaminess remains dominant however.
Finish: The sharp edge gives way to a sweet fudge-like finish that lasts and lasts.
So Mortlach - I always claimed this to be a vastly underrated distillery. But over the past year I have tried a couple of indie releases that were particularly.... well crap. And made me lose interest. However, this one is absolutely superb:-
It brings back the Mortlach character I loved when I first tried it in Scotland a few years ago, (the tasting was actually at Dalwhinnie distillery). It then adds an extra dimension of creamy pepperiness. Probably the best I've tried from the distillery to date.
Find where to buy Mortlach whisky
I believe I have a bottle of this two cask blend -
I also have a 17yo ADR bottling of a single cask.
What can I say about Mortlach - big, bold, in your face - no question about which distillery this came from. On the flip side, this is not really my preferred taste profile - though definitely drinkable - and well structured in general. I prefer more vanilla, butterscotch Glencadam type material given the choice... though I don't mind exploring.
My exploration of Mortlach is probably complete with these two bottles - they both had very similar characteristics - enough to get me what I wanted.