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Day 14 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - G&M Distillery Label Mortlach 25 Year

Posted on December 14, 2024

Day 14 — G&M Distillery Label Mortlach 25 Year – 46%

“What’s with all of this young whisky?”- You might be thinking after the past two days of our 2024 Not An Advent Calendar. How fickle our memories are this time of year — it is easy to forget we had a 21-Year-Old Irish Whiskey recently, back on Day Eleven. Maybe this is just me projecting my own memory issues on you, though? Regardless, today we are jumping into something older. Say hello to this 25-Year-Old Gordon & MacPhail bottling of Mortlach!

Mortlach Distillery was founded back in 1823 and is located in Speyside, within Dufftown. It is the oldest distillery in Duftown and its nearest distillery neighbours include Glendullan, heavy hitters Glenfiddich and Balvenie, as well as the aptly named Dufftown Distillery itself.

Mortlach is known as “The Beast of Dufftown” thanks to its heavy and often meaty distillate profile that often shows up in its whisky as well. This rich, characterful profile makes it highly sought after by blenders. The distillery is owned by (stop me if you have heard this before) alcohol giant Diageo. The whisky Mortlach produces is showcased throughout the Johnnie Walker range, including the bold and peated Black Label.

The distillation process at Mortlach is curious and unique, thanks to both utilizing worm tubs and being distilled 2.81 times. Not double-distilled or triple-distilled, but some strange and confusing mathematical equation between them. The copper at Mortlach is made of three wash stills and three spirit stills, all with different sizes and shapes. Somehow, these stills create three different types of spirit that are then merged into what we know as Mortlach’s style. This process was first adopted in 1896 and has not been changed since.

Here is a YouTube Video that delves into the 2.81 Distillation Process from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

The bottler of this whisky is Gordon & MacPhail. G&M has featured prominently over our past decade-plus of making KWM Whisky Calendars, as well as on our store shelves, and in our hearts for that matter.

Gordon & MacPhail started as a grocery store in Elgin, back in 1895, founded by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. The first generation of the Urquhart Family – which owns G&M – John Urquhart started as an apprentice to the two founding partners.

(Gordon & MacPhail in the beginning: a single grocery store. Photo from gordonandmacphail.com)

Over John’s lifetime, he helped push G&M firmly into the Scotch Whisky scene by sourcing whisky from many Speyside and Scottish distilleries, which was then matured and bottled by G&M. His legacy with G&M is still seen to this day, with some of the whisky laid down during the time is still being bottled. One such release is the G&M Generations 80-Year-Old Glenlivet, which was chosen from a parcel of 15 First Fill Sherry Butts filled at the Glenlivet distillery in 1940.

George Urquhart, or “Mr. George”, started working at G&M in 1933. George is responsible for the creation of the venerable Connoisseurs Choice range of single malt Scotch releases in 1968. This and other G&M Single Malt releases helped solidify G&M’s place in Scotch Whisky. More than that, even: it helped push the concept of Single Malt Scotch as a product in its own right instead of blending it all away into, well, Blended Scotch Whisky.

('Mr George' Urquhart. Photo from gordonandmacphail.com)

Just last year in the 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar we featured a younger sibling to this bottle, with the G&M Distillery Label Mortlach 15-Year-Old. How does this decade older Mortlach fare? Let’s find out, shall we?

G&M Distillery Label Mortlach 25 Year – 46%

“Part of G&M's Distillery Labels range, this 25-year-old Mortlach was matured in First Fill and Refill Sherry Casks before bottling at 46%.”

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Rich, meaty, and full of dried fruits. Notes of thin sliced beef dipped in au jus, cooked mushrooms, figs, fleshy plums, orange peel, roasted walnuts, and cloves.

Palate: More dried and stewed fruits on the palate, with the meaty notes still there but taking more of a back seat. Pralines, dates, dark chocolate covered raisins and dried cherries, applesauce, more clove and a touch of nutmeg.

Finish: Warm and lingering with chocolate, dried fruits, nuts, and spices sticking around.

Comment: How the immense meaty notes are kept in balance with dried fruit and spice notes is a thing of alchemical genius. This is a fantastic showcase for both the richness Mortlach is capable of with age, and the careful and patient cask selection and aging that Gordon & MacPhail is known for.

Steadfast elegance does seem to come with age, doesn’t it? I wish I showed as well at 25!

Cheers,
Evan

Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?

You can find the rest of the blog posts here!

This entry was posted in Whisky, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Independent Bottler, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

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