Tasting Notes for Mortlach - 8 Year Old (2012) Signatory Vintage
Nose: Fruity and fresh. Orchard fruits, lychee, white flowers (lily of the valley), spices (pepper, liquorice).
Palate: Fruity, oily, spicy. Bourbon vanilla, almond milk, malted barley, baked apple, aromatic plants (verbena, chamomile).
Finish: Sweet. Roasted barley, honey, cut hay.
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Distilled in 2012, this version has been aged exclusively in ex-bourbon casks that impart sweet, spicy notes. Like the Un-Chillfiltered Collection, the whiskies in the Very Cloudy range are bottled in small batches of 2 to 5 casks. Reduced to 40% without either chill filtering or colouring, they have a rich, intensely aromatic character and slightly cloudy appearance. For an authentic tasting experience, they can be enjoyed either at room temperature or lightly chilled to accentuate their oily nature.
Founded in 1823, Mortlach is allegedly built on the site of a former illicit distillery. It was one of the rare distilleries allowed to produce alcohol during the second world war, right up until 1944. One of the very few distilleries that practise partial triple distillation (2.81 times to be exact), Mortlach also uses old-fashioned condensers known as “worm tubes” and is noted for producing a very delicate distillate with a rich and fruity profile. All in all, Mortlach is pretty unique and really worth checking out. As is the case with many of the distilleries owned by the Diageo group, very few official bottlings of the malt exist outside of the Flora & Fauna and Rare Malts ranges released in the 1990s.
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Signatory was founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington and is best known for their Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky independent bottlings including their Cask Strength and Un-Chill Filtered collections. The name ‘Signatory’ was derived from the initial intention to find a person of suitable standing to sign the labels for bottles drawn from a single cask. The first cask bottled was a 1968 Glenlivet which quickly sold, though long before any suitable signee could be found. With the initial plan to have all their bottles signed by the great and the good long since abandoned, Signatory went on to become one of the largest and most respected independent whisky bottlers.
Signatory currently bottle at four strengths: 40% Very Cloudy, 43%, 46% Un-chill filtered (UCF) and Cask Strength. To add proof of authenticity to their cask strength bottlings, Signatory always include the cask numbers, date of distillation, date of bottling and number of bottles produced. Signatory Vintage’s aim is to offer as wide a range of whiskies as possible, some of which are not even bottled by the proprietary distillery. This allows malt enthusiast to sample the huge variety of subtle differences which occur between casks.
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Producer Mortlach Distillery for Signatory Vintage Style Single Malt Scotch Whisky Age 8 Years Volume 70CL ABV 40%