Mortlach Trio Maps Speyside Brand's Rising Tide

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Author

Gary Quinn
May 27, 2025

Mortlach: the Beast of Dufftown

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Now a standard bearer for Diageo’s Special Releases series, the Beast of Dufftown has earned its place as a top-tier pour

The Beast of Dufftown is an enviable moniker for this hardworking Diageo-owned distillery. Long a trailblazer, its role at the heart of Diageo’s Johnnie Walker releases saw its independent spirit pushed to the sidelines for too long. Now, though, through its owner’s careful management of its releases and their place in the annual Diageo Special Releases series, Mortlach has built its profile and stretched its wings. 

These days, you’ll find Mortlach in the most prestigious bars and retailers in the world, its status lifted by a constant stream of international writers ‘discovering’ this Speyside stalwart for the first time.  

Mortlach uses a 2.81 times distillation method to create its core bottlings of 12-, 16-, 20- and 21-year-old releases.  It has also become a reliable part of its parent’s prestigious annual Diageo Special Releases series. Here are three bottlings from the 2020 to 2022 Special Releases series that we think capture the heart of this Dufftown distillery perfectly, with three very different maturation pathways.

This edition of Mortlach’s meaty flavour profile was conjured from a three-cask maturation: virgin oak, tawny port and red muscat wine casks. It’s a flavour-packed approach to making this excellent 2.81-times distilled single malt sing. The aroma is packed with red wine notes while meaty chunks wrap around the sweet grape and vanilla baseline. 

The port goes a long way to delivering the rich and savoury notes that carry the smooth red wine elements that coat the mouth, and deliver hints of ginger and spice. 

Bottled at 57.8%, this cask strength bottling demands a drop of water to release the dark fruit layers and the black pepper spiciness at its heart.   

Diageo unveiled this 13-year-old as part of its 2021 Special Releases series. Laid down in 2007, its 13 years in virgin and refill-American oak have managed to create a deeply-layered whisky with a herbal side-note that’s entirely refreshing. 

Bottled at 55.9%, fans heralded its zesty and summer fruit personality. It favours the palate over the nose with a light, citrus-heavy aroma which offers herbs over spice. The palate, however, quickly makes up for this gentle introduction, offering buckets of redcurrant, lime jelly, oak spice and chocolate that belie its crisp gold colour. 

You’ll find a peppery kick in the finish, and a dash of water will bring even more of that herbal note gurgling to the top.

The 2020 edition of Diageo’s Special Releases is built on the foundations of rich sherry notes and nutty chocolate that make this series of Mortlach incredibly appealing. Matured for 21 years in ex-bourbon and finished in Pedro Ximenes and oloroso sherry casks, this is a classic sweet and savoury concoction from the Speyside whisky maker. 

Bottled at 56.9%, it was matured in small batches to bring that smooth, sweet and savoury personality to the fore. There were 7,692 of these indulgent bottles shipped, each packed with flavour. 

The 2.81-times distillation method comes into its own here with lots of smooth, oily notes and honeyed undercurrents coming from the near-triple distillation. The palate delivers lots of spice and oak within a deeply textured and meaty outer shell and a long, complex finish that carries succulent fruit and wood elements.