Mortlach 15 Year Old

After failing to act in time and buy this for $60 at Total Wine my curiosity got the best of me and I resorted to buying it for $80 at Hi Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. This is the first Mortlach I've ever had. I've wanted to try it as I'd heard it was an above average Speyside and seeing as how it is hard to find outside Scotland I figured I should pick this Gordon and MacPhail bottle up while I had the chance.

I am more of an Islay fan but this is a nice change of pace. After many of the last bottles I've bought packing attacks of peat this is a nice reminder that not all Scotch should be like that. Though it's not quite worth the price, I think this is a much better alternative to the standard Macs and Glens of the world. I smell faintly citrus and honey in the glass and when tasting it, it is succulently sweet with a rich and beefy body. It is far from a sherry bomb though. There is great balance. There is some bitter (I use that word in a positive sense) wood, some sea salt and more orange in the background. The finish becomes dry with more orange and even lemon coming in which separates it from the standard Speyside malt.

It was pricey but a nice reminder to Islay lovers that there are other types of whisky out there. To me it rivals the simultaneous sweet and dry complexity of Yamazaki 18. I think it is definitely worth a try but only if you're very curious and cannot be satisfied by only reading a review. There are better values out there, but having said that, I think it is much better than Macallan, Glenlivet, and even Cragganmore and Aberlour (excluding A'Bunadh of course).

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