Mortlach 26 Year Old 1987 Adephi

Independent bottler Adelphi – which also owns the fairly new Ardnamurchan distillery – likes to bottle single casks at cask strength. This is one of those, from the Beast of Dufftown. This Mortlach 1987 matured for 26 long years on a refill sherry cask. I confess, it’s one I’ve been looking out for.

Yes! Very sweet and aromatic nose with the somewhat umami spirit of Mortlach on the one hand and lovely sherry notes on the other. Think pineapple, litchi, peach and acacia honey, while some wood appears in the back, as if standing in a cabinet maker’s workshop. Lovely floral hint. Let’s call it orange potpourri. This is very nice.

Good strength and next to the sweet notes, I also get lots of spices from the start. The saliva glands go into overdrive. Call it piquant. Cloves and chili peppers, candied ginger and liquorice. Herbal tea. The fruit evolves towards candied and dried with oranges in the lead. Wonderfully mouth coating.

The finish is very, very long with some earthy notes and some late cocoa.

This reminds me a lot of the official 20, but with balls. This one is worthy of the name Beast of Dufftown. Thanks, Marcel.

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