Mortlach 18 Years Old 1990 (Murray McDavid)

Murray McDavid, founded in 1996 by the team that revived Bruichladdich, released this 18 Year Old, a 1990 vintage, an outturn of 608 bottles. The first legal distillery in Dufftown, Mortlach builds its meaty weight through low-copper worm tubs and the 2.81 distillation, and has anchored Johnnie Walker for a century.

By eighteen years the dense Mortlach spirit had turned oxidative, esters and acetals lending dried fruit and a savoury, oily weight beneath the vanilla.

At 54.2% it shows chocolate, dried fruit, honey, old wood and a sherried depth, undiluted. The savoury Dufftown style.