Mortlach 18

After tasting the very impressive mortlach 25, I now get the chance to review the little sister, this 18yo is a mixture of American oak and European sherry casks, both first fill and re fill casks were used. This is a 50cl bottle and has an abv of 43.4%…

Nose.. At first it is a little underwhelming, not the nose I expected….. BUT.. wait 10 minutes and it is totally different, the nose opens up into an array of spices, citrus and earthy notes, cinnamon, ginger, orange peel and lemon zest give it a lovely refreshing kick while a nuttiness leads you into a subtle pipe tobacco scent, toffee and molasses with an oaky aroma.

Palate.. A big hit of sweet syrupy fruits, orange marmalade, cherry and dates, cinnamon and ginger give it a spicy kick while vanilla, toffee and butterscotch make it a candy lovers delight. There is a subtle smokey background flavour, liquorice and dark chocolate notes pop up with a burnt nutty caramelised taste..

Finish.. The finish is rather gentle, faintly spicy with fruity notes, a little woody.. But pleasant..

Thoughts.. A pleasant dram with some typical mortlach notes, although it has a hefty price tag it is still a dram you should try.. There are some really prominent flavours along with lovely subtle notes, it has a complexity that is found in older whisky while at the same time you do expect a little more… Well worth a second pour though..

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