A life experience awaited me. I sat with this chocolate-esque box on the bar before me. I had been looking forward to getting my hands on it for quite some time. After blowing the dust off the lid, I preceded to open the box. Pages and pages of information, but who cares about that? What I wanted to find was the liquid. A tiny container of liquid, just under three times my age. The oldest whisky ever released and the oldest whisky I will ever taste (probably).
Mortlach 70 year old
Gordon & MacPhail
Ex Sherry cask filled in 1938
46.1% Abv
Nose: Very rich mahogany and floor polish. Beef marinated in red wine and cooked with smokey bacon. A little charcoal.
Palate: Very bitter chocolate with hints of cherry. Again smokey bacon.
Finish: Creme brulee and milky way.
I am left pretty speechless by it. So many layers and such complexity. Superb. The taste just about matched the excitement I had felt beforehand.
Check out the people who looked after this barrel for so long here
Chris
This is one envious Mortlach-enthusiast.
However, I feel you could have created a new tasting category for this one: “A Very Long-Drawn-Out Dram Indeed”, or something similar. Maybe you could have tasted it over a 70-minute period? Or possibly you could have compared it to other things that are 70-years-old? Or you could have written the tasting notes over a bus pass template. I’m only fooling, of course.
What an achievement in whisky, though, and when placed beside the louder and brasher Glenfiddich and Dalmore brands, a lovely surprise.