Mortlach 20 yo Cowie's Blue Seal

 

 

 

43,4°

Distillery : Mortlach - Speyside

Ex-Sherry Casks

Original Bottling 

Core Range 

Single Malt 

Launched in 2018

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Alexander Cowie is the one who took over the distillery in 1896. It was he who created The Way, the very atypical way of creating whisky at Mortlach. One part of the product is fermented for 50 hours, which is short, the other for 120 hours, which is very long. 80% of the juice is distilled three times, the rest is distilled only twice. These are the most striking elements devised by Alexander Cowie to give Mortlach its character. The distillery had to pay tribute to him by naming the most prestigious bottle in their Core Range after him. But why Blue Seal? Quite simply, in 1973, one of Cowie's heirs discovered a wooden box buried in the basement of the family home. Inside, she found 12 bottles of whisky with a blue seal. Apparently this was Alexander Cowie's personal reserve, and that's why the bottles of Mortlach are blue today. This 20yo is the only representative of the distillery's new range that I had not yet tasted. It's unfortunately chill-filtered, which is a shame for a product of this age.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The nose is full-bodied, solid and complex, with ethereal lemon, creamy vanilla and pulpy mirabelle plums. Beeswax, but also blond tobacco, toasts rubbed with garlic, fir tree honey, crispy bacon, noble and varnished wood, apricot jam sprinkled with cinnamon. Walnuts and grapefruit. On the palate, it's lighter but with lively spices, dry ham and caramel, more jam, ham pie. Quite a long finish, not really powerful but with personality. Toasted cereals, cola, bark, wood resin, charcoal, heather.

 

In Short, 

This is Mortlach with all its character. Often, older versions are soft and not very expressive. This one is, with all the complexity and style of Mortlach, even more pronounced than in the 12-year-old, I think. A very good product, but the price is very exaggerated, which is a shame.

Score : 88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Cock Robin - Worlds Apart