Mortlach. what comes to mind when you think about a Mortlach single malt? probably heavily sherried, dirty sort of, meaty and powerful with the signature oxtail notes, right? Wrong. This single cask by Wemyss was dram #2 at last week’s Twitter tasting I took part in (lovely tasting by the way), and left me completely surprised as I was not expecting this kind of flavour/aroma profile from a Mortlach. This is indeed, a very different specimen.
Pastille Bouquet 1998 – Wemyss Malts (Mortlach) , 46.0%,£66 [MOM]
Nose: Much more grassy, lemony (lemon grass, yea) , herbal and fresh, with fresh cut grass, lemon pie, green sour apples (granny smith) a very a-typical Mortlach. so light and gentle. not the manly dram I’ve come to expect from Mortlach single malts…
Palate: Sweeter and less citrusy, some chocolate with a limy edge to it, flower petals, sweeter, with cereal and honey too, but some spicy stuff is going on here too. pepper, chilly, a nice feel to it, complements the sweetness and citrus quite a bit.
Finish: Chocolate, grass, grapefruit and candy.
This is a very interesting dram indeed. 180 degrees than what I expected, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. If there was EVER a summer evening dram , this is it. fresh, lemony, gentle and quite feminine in a way. Seek it out to experiment with a different sort of Mortlach whisky.