Description

Mortlach is a distillery in the heart of the Speyside region of Scotland. It is located in the town of Dufftown and was the first of the famous seven distilleries to be built in the town in 1823. Mortlach was the only distillery in Dufftown for over 60 years, until former distillery employee William Grant founded Glenfiddich. The distillery is currently owned by Diageo and has a capacity of 3 million litres per year. The whisky produced at Mortlach is very popular with blenders and the majority gets tied up in blending contracts, especially Diageo’s own Johnnie Walker range. As a result, Mortlach single malts are hard to find with only a 16 years old (part of Diageo’s Flora and Fauna range) and a limited edition 32 years old being released by Diageo. Independent bottlings are more frequent.

Mortlach is well known for their use of quality sherry casks during maturation but also for their rich robust spirit. This is produced in one of the most idiosyncratic stillrooms in the whisky industry. There are only six stills but each one is a different shape and size, as each was added on at different times. One is named ‘Wee Witchie’ and spirit that passes through it is distilled three times, compared to the regular two times elsewhere in Scotland and also in the other stills at Mortlach.