Mortlach 16 (모틀락 16)

(한국어 시음기 밑에 있어요!)

Mortlach is a Speyside distillery that belongs to Diageo. It has a long and storied history and can claim to be the first legal distillery in the epicenter of Speyside whisky, Dufftown, and was also the place where William Grant, the founder of Glenfiddich, learned his trade. The vast majority of the produce of this distillery goes into Diageo's blended whiskies, most notably the Johnnie Walker series, but it does also release premium single malts under the Mortlach brand, with the Mortlach 16 being one of the most popular of them.

It isn't easy to get this one in Korea and I only had a single vial of it. You can still find it, but supply is often hit and miss.

Vitals:

ABV: 43.4%

Colour: Dark gold.

Chill-filtered: Yes.

Nose: Intensely floral on the nose with notes of honeysuckles and freshly plucked muscat grapes. A raisin note develops, followed by freshly sliced apples and clotted cream. Midly charred wood notes appear and combine with the honeysuckles and cream, transforming them into custard pudding and brown sugar. As they continue to evolve, an overwhelmingly sweet creme brulee develops. 20.5/25

Palate: Some initial oak astringency hits, but sweet fruit quickly overtakes it as apples, cherries and plums flood the palate, with notes of malted barley in the background. Flowery honey blooms and blends with the fruit. As the floral notes continue to rise in intensity, they begin to smother out the fruit as it slowly draws to its finish. 19/25

Finish: Very floral and of moderate length, with a honey sweetness and perhaps even a dash of chamomile tea. 17/25

Value*: It isn't particularly common here, but from what I have seen it runs at about the same price as most 18 year old whiskies. 11/25

Conclusion:

Not an awful lot to say other than that it is a very pleasant dram to drink. Light, soft and dare I say...Elegant? You wouldn't think that just by looking at the colour, but this *is* Diageo after all, so it wouldn't surprise me if they added caramel coloring to it...but I digress. I'll note that I didn't get much of the sherry and chocolate notes that other reviewers online mentioned.

Basic Rating: 75.3%

Price Adjusted Rating*: 67.5%

Daily Drinker: Not really. Not easy enough to find in Korea, and expensive.

Possible pairing: Milk chocolate.

Where to find in Korea: Namdaemun (maybe?)

TLDR Version:

N: Honeysuckles, muscat grapes → raisins, apples, clotted cream → charred wood, custard pudding, brown sugar → creme brulee

P: Oak tannins → apples, cherries, plums, malted barley → floral honey

F: Moderate length and floral, with honey and chamomile tea.

V: Expensive, at around the same price as most 18 year old whiskies.

C: Light, soft and elegant.

한국어 시음평:

N: 허니서클(인동초), 샤인머스캣 포도 → 건포도, 사과, 크림 → 나무, 커스터드 푸딩, 흑설탕 → 크림 브륄레

P : 오크 탄닌 → 사과, 체리, 자두, 맥아 보리 → 꽃 꿀

F: 꽃, 꿀, 카모마일 차. 피니시가 적당한 길이예요

V : 비싸요. 18년산 위스키와 같은 가격이에요

C: 온화하고 부드럽고 우아해요.

Buy / Mooch / Pass: Mooch.

Review by Glasgowhisky

2020/05/26