Mortlach 23 Years Old 1994 Cask #8192 (Gordon & MacPhail)

Gordon & MacPhail, the Elgin house founded in 1895 and a long-standing Mortlach bottler, bottles this 23 Year Old, a 1994 vintage from cask 8192. Mortlach, long the muscular heart of the Johnnie Walker blends, draws its meaty depth from low-copper worm tubs and a 2.81-times distillation regime.

Twenty-three years in Oloroso built deep sherried maturity on the meaty frame, melanoidins and decades of oxidation giving dried fruit, leather and nuts.

At 54.2% it shows dried fruit, a sherried depth, chocolate, malt extract, a nutty weight and vanilla, undiluted. Big, savoury and full-bodied.