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Mortlach 1990, 22 YO (AD Rattray)

Decent, unexceptional sherried Mort

0 684

nReview by @numen

9th Jul 2013

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  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    84

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from a friend

Nose: Some oxidative sherry and light red fruit notes but it's all pretty soft and subtle strawberry, jammy baked goods. Vanilla and chocolate malt. A slightly salty note as well. Peaches, apricots, and other soft fruit in a salad (pears, perhaps). Lemon and waxy zest and wood. Evolves a bit with air, and some floral notes develop. (with water) More on pineapple and a mix of 10-15 year old Sauternes with a light a floral (sour) Petite Champagne cognac. Sorry for being so referential, but when the whisky fits...

Palate: Cool fruit salad, honey, malt, black baking spices, pepper, lemon, and a bit of spicy ginger in honey. Big wood. Much more direct here, less fruit, and little sherry. (with water) Ah, rather malty and smoothed out. Wood's still there, but it's not out of whack. Swims well.

Finish: Decent, not spectacular, and not problematic. It's enjoyable and there's not too much left to add. Pretty much the definition of a 'B' to me.

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6 comments

broadwayblue commented

Obviously it's from a different independent bottler, but I have been on the fence buying a Chieftain's Mortlach bottling of the same vintage and age. Supposedly quite a bit more Sherry though. Reviews are fantastic, but I'm having second thoughts.

www.klwines.com/detail.asp

10 years ago 0

numen commented

@broadwayblue, lawhiskeysociety.com/whiskey-profile/2753/… that one, right? So far, the LAWS guys gave that one an A- and two Bs (with one being B/B+). All three recognized that there was a lot of wood, and it not be for everybody. It's worth comparing other reviews that they've done on things that you've had to see whether you're closer to Fuji and Adam (Bs - concerns about the oak) or Ries (A-, less concerned about the oak).

10 years ago 0

broadwayblue commented

Yeah, that's the one. Those scores aren't exactly bad...but some of their tasting notes of "stale sherry" and "over-oaked" don't exactly match up with the sellers claim that "it's the best sherry-aged whisky we have - it may be the best sherry-aged whisky we've ever had." At nearly $200 I'm not sure anymore.

10 years ago 0

numen commented

I understand completely. Turns out that I have a sample or two of that Chieftan's bottling -- I'll give it a shot or two tonight to see how it goes.

10 years ago 0

@PeatyZealot
PeatyZealot commented

I once had the 17yo Mortlach also from Rattray and I liked it very much. Big complex flavours and there was still a little peat left:) My new girlfriend got me the 21yo Rattray Bowmore, I havent opened it yet but it promises to be one hell of a sherry/peatbomb:) Did you try any other Rattrays besides this one?

10 years ago 0

numen commented

@PeatyZealot, that's a pretty darn awesome new girlfriend. Congrats on that, and enjoy the Bowmore! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Of the other recent Rattray 1/2 bottle releases, I tried the Clynelish and Longmorn. And then compared this Mortlach to the K&L Chieftan's release! It's been a rather arduous week. :)

10 years ago 0

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