Mortlach 16 Year Old Distiller’s Dram

This 16 Year Old – dubbed the Distiller’s Dram – should make us forget the 16 years old from the Flora & Fauna series. That will not be easy, as that was a top dram. This new one is likewise matured on sherry casks, but has a slightly higher ABV.

The nose is round and elegant, almost feminine. Softer than the 12 Year Old with much more sweetness. The sherry casks have done a good job. Overripe banana, orange marmalade, toffee and toffee apples, but also apricots, plums and sultanas. Some earthy and wood glue, but in the good sense. Refined and complex.

Succulent! Dark and sweet on sultanas, dried apricots, juicy cherries, blood oranges and plums upholstered with some cloves and cinnamon. Then I get some hazelnuts and a bitterness as if from Darjeeling tea that has been left unattended. You can almost chew this one. Very good!

The finish is long, dark and sweet with some drying tannins at the death.

Refined. Elegant. Feminine. Wonderful. Complex yet dangerously quaffable. Offer this at cask strength and it will truly be The Wild Child of Speyside.

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