Mortlach Signatory Bottling

by **bond** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 7:58 am

I had asked a friend who was travelling to the U.K. to get me a Mortlach 16 YO but he got me a bottle which reads as follws:

Signatory Bottling 13 YO (1990) Casked in Sherry Butt
(Mortlach)

Has anyone of you sampled this or any of the older bottlings?

I tried a dram and found the sherry masking any of the other attributes. In fact, I found it very similar to the Macallan 10YO.

Any tasting notes?

by **SpiritofShetland** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:52 am

Mortlach is, like The Macallan, a whiskiy that mainly is matured in sherry-casks. So you would expect them to be somewhat similar.

For me the Mortlach has a somewhat more agressiveness I find lacking in The Macallan, both both a supreme drams.

Of course with the single-cask bottling from Signatory you could in fact get something that is quite different from the distillery's definition of how a mortlach should be.

by **Jeroen Kloppenburg** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 5:49 pm

Hey bond,

Found a tasting note of myself here:
http://www.peatfreak.com/Cnt.php?search=Mortlach+13

Edit: was naming the wrong nick ... :oops:

by **Tyson** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 2:01 am

Funny, I "just" picked up a bottle of this 2 days ago. 1st day I thought it was terrible, but I found out I was having an "off day". Some days whisky just doesn't taste good to me. I confirmed this by taking a dram of the HP 12 and it tasted almost as bad to me as the Mortlach. So I just put the mortlach away until today. Much better day for me today, everything back to normal.

Head to head against the Macallan 12 and the Glenmorangie 10 reveals the Mortlach has a more full and sherried nose than the Macallan. The Mac has a smoother more refined mouthfeel where the Mortlach is a bit sharper feeling/tasting. The flavor is similar between both, perhaps with the Mac being a little more subdued and the Mortlach being more grassy. The finish however is strongly in favor of the mortlach, as you get a taste of curry and ginger with Mortlach, but the Mac doesn't really change, just sort of tails off with the same taste as the initial taste. The Glenmorangie 10 is a lighter whisky and definitely younger tasting, but it is not so sherry influenced and has a nice clove spice finish and more malty middle. Overall the Mortlach more than holds it's own in this company.

by **Stephen** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 6:48 am

Signatory released lots of Mortlach Sherry Butt (some 12yo and some 13yo), some are just Ok, but some are terrible.

i have tasted 1989/2001 Sherry Cask Cask#3649-51,it's Ok.

But i have tasted another Signatory's Mortlach Sherry Butt, i guess it is from a rotten Sherry Butt.

by **Jeroen Kloppenburg** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 8:18 am

Funny, I "just" picked up a bottle of this 2 days ago. 1st day I thought it was terrible, but I found out I was having an "off day".

Thats why I always try to sample a whiksy several times over a longer period before I write a tatsing note on it...

It really boggles me sometimes how some people write a tatsing note and rate it based ona single dram they had. Especially if that tasting note then gets publicized or so... But thats a whole other can of worms I guess :wink:

by **Xavier** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:16 am

Jeroen, were you "tatsing" some whisky while typing your message ? :wink:

by **Jeroen Kloppenburg** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:19 am

I think I just typed it too quickly.. :oops:

tatsing is a standard typo I make, which I normally take the time to correct again. :lol:

by **Frodo** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 10:22 am

About 4 years ago I got a Signatory bottling of 8 or 9 year old Mortlach matured in 1st fill sherry casks. All I remembered was that the sherry masked the whisky as far as I could tell. Funny thing was I actually liked it :shock:

. I usually go for significant island character or the laid-back speyside styles. Just goes to show the benefits of always trying new side-roads on one's journey of discovery.

Regards
Frodo

by **hpulley** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 12:35 pm

I prefer Morties to Macs. The Signatory '88 14yo is pretty good and I've had some good Cadenheads Mortlachs too, but some so-so Chieftains bottlings. Never had an OB!

by **Frodo** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:11 pm

Welcome to the LCBO hpulley. There is a trade-off to having a monopoly the size of the LCBO. On one hand, it is the largest retailer in the world for beer, wine, and spirits. This means that it uses that status to get lower prices from it's suppliers and it passes these on to us consumers. If this is ever in doubt, check out the prices in the U.S. for comparable bottles of whisky.

On the other hand, the selection of whiskys is not what I'd call exaustive. Given the current situation, I think the benefits far outweigh the problems for me. I would much rather be able to afford a bottle of Glenmorangie for $45 cdn ($30 U.S.) than be able to get some esoteric bottling of champagne finished Glen Whoeverheardofthisburn from some remote island bottled by Ma and Pa Kettle.

I haven't had on OB of Mortlach either, but given the new bottle of 17 yr old Ardbeg I just picked up for $100 cdn, I'm not complaining. I'm not assuming you are either. It's just the system we live with here in Ontario.

Regards
Frodo

by **hpulley** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:17 pm

Yes, the LCBO yields some funny things. Some good deals but some very expensive stuff too, even in scotch. Bruichladdichs are quite expensive here, as are the Ardbegs though the 'new' sale prices on some, the 17yo for $99 and the Murray&McDavid IB for $89, put them more in line. Oh, and we have wine finishes galore so I wouldn't laugh off the champagne finish!

How is that 17yo? Still the 43% from the last good batch? I've heard some say the last batch to come out of Ardbeg wasn't as good. I've been waffling on which of the two Ardbegs to get, if any. I'm still enjoying a bottle of TEN at the moment and hope we get some more Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask bottlings some time.

Harry

by **Frodo** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:59 pm

Harry:

Haven't opened the bottle yet. $100 represents a major expence for me, so I'm saving the bottle for a special occasion. Us social service workers don't get paid alot, ya know :?:

BTW, have you many wine finishes down in your neck of the woods to choose from? In T.O., the only one that has surfaced is the Bowmore (Twilight, Sunset, or whatever it's called). I'd really like to try one but they sold out real fast while I dithered after seeing the $100 price tag. I'd really like to try one of the Glen Moray wine finishes, but as always, it comes down to an assessment of price vs quality for me.

I agree that the Bruichladdichs are way over-priced. The 15 yr old is a nice dram, but I think it's worth about $65 NOT $100 cdn. And this is comming from someone who likes all kinds of whiskies. In other words, I'm not running it down just because I stick to peaty monsters. I was thinking of weighing in on the most over-hyped post with Bruichladdich but I found the thread to be a comparison between fans of contrasting styles (Sherried Speyside vs Peat Monsters). What is good value to someone depends on individual tasts I think. For example while 12yr old Glenfiddich is not what a lot of whisky students would value I have several friends who drink blends and would appretiate a bottle of this exclaiming "Ooo, a single malt", while being able to drink it.

My major expence for the week was Balblair 16 yr old at $60 down from $80. Now that's what I call value!

Cheers
Frodo

by **hpulley** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 5:05 pm

Frodo we've taken this thread off-track so I've started a new one, entitled "prices and finishes".

by **BruceCrichton** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:48 pm

I've got a Douglas Laing Provenance 1991 Mortlach which I recommend. It costs about £28.

It's very pale and has a slightly astrigent taste with hints of acid-drop taste sweets. It is as different from the F&F 16 year old as you could possibly get.