Fairly wide availability

Decent, but not great

For the details…

The Speyside town of Dufftown was once known as Mortlach. The town’s first legal distillery, founded in 1823, took that earlier name as its namesake. Over the years, as distilling boomed on Speyside, numerous other distilleries joined Mortlach in the town, leading to the saying “Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown was built on seven stills” in reference to the seven active distilleries there. 

Mortlach’s early history was somewhat checkered, and at one point under the ownership of the Grant brothers (of the famed Glen Grant distillery, in nearby Rothes), Mortlach was stripped of its distilling equipment. Its fortunes improved in the mid-19th century under the stewardship of father and son George and Alexander Cowie. The Cowie family remained involved until 1923, when the distillery was purchased by the famous blending house, John Walker & Sons, which in turn was absorbed into DCL two years later. Mortlach is still owned by Diageo, a successor firm to DCL.

Because of its unusually weighty and characterful spirit, Mortlach is highly prized as a blending malt, and as a result, has been a bit difficult to come by as a single malt until relatively recently. The character of the spirit is the result of several factors, including a very peculiar distillation regimen which results in the spirit being distilled, on average, 2.81 times–more than the vast majority of distilleries in Scotland, but less than the full triple distillation traditionally practiced in the Lowlands and Ireland. Mortlach is also one of a handful of distilleries that still use worm tubs, a traditional method of condensing spirit that has been largely supplanted by modern shell and tube condensers; worm tubs are considered to produce a heavier spirit. Finally, Mortlach has often emphasized maturation in ex-sherry casks

For many years, the only regular official bottling of Mortlach was a 16 year old in the Flora and Fauna range. Finally, in the 2010s, Diageo discontinued the 16 year old Flora and Fauna expression and began widely marketing several expressions–a no age statement expression called “Rare Old,” an 18 and 25 year old, and a travel retail exclusive. Bottled in handsome, art deco-styled rectangular bottles, the new range didn’t win many friends. The lowest-priced expression was around $100, and in the UK and EU market came in a 50cl bottle rather than a standard 70cl bottle. Rather than doubling down on the unpopular new range, Diageo withdrew it and replaced it with slightly redesigned, standard sized rectangular bottles, all with an age statement and priced noticeably more reasonably. This 12 year old expression takes its name–the Wee Witchie–from one of Mortlach’s six stills. 

While one has to applaud Diageo for being responsive to the whisky community in creating this more wallet-friendly whisky and circulating Mortlach–long something of a cult whisky–to a wider audience, there are some issues here. First of all, in common with almost every mainline offering from Diageo (with the glorious and partial exception of Clynelish and certain Lagavulins), this is bottled under 46% abv, and is almost certainly both chill-filtered and colored with spirit caramel. The whisky in the bottle also feels a little tame and neutered for a spirit sometimes known as “The Beast of Dufftown”–there is little evidence here of the heavy, sulphurous, roast beef-flavored whisky that built the Mortlach cult. Instead, this is a rather gentle, easy-going fellow with a broadly typical Speyside character and almost no indication that it’s spent time anywhere near a sherry butt. 

Mortlach – The Wee Witchie – 12 year old 43.4% abv

Nose: Freshly cut grass, berry compote, and plain Greek yogurt. Generally rather fresh and easy going with just a hint of cedar box and a sly, barely noticeable gesture at Mortlach’s meatier, sulphurous vibe.

Body: Medium; mouthcoating.

Palate: Fruity, juicy and exuberant, like berry juice. Ripe, sweet blackberries. A little bit of spice–perhaps cloves or corriander? Something dense and sweet–rum cake?

Finish: Short. Grass straws and a hint of black peppercorn.

Score: 77/100

Who should buy it?: People who like solid, well-made, middle of the road whisky, or those who are Mortlach-curious.

Overall thoughts: More labrador retriever than feral beast, this is a pleasant, well-mannered Mortlach. Definitely an enjoyable dram for both enthusiasts and more casual consumers, it nonetheless won’t knock your socks off or ruffle any feathers.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Mortlach – The Wee Witchie – 12 year old

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: Core

Bottle Code: L9021DM00400000616

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: n/a

Price: $60-80

Availability: Depending on where you live, you might be able to find it at your local liquor store. In Albuquerque, Total Wine has recently started carrying it as well. Any online whisky shop will have it, for example Whisky Exchange.

Distillery Information:

Region: Speyside

Location: Dufftown

Geography: Inland

Date Founded: 1823

Owner: Diageo

Website: https://www.malts.com/en-us/

Capacity: 3,800,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: 6 Wood; STILLS: 6; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Worm tub

Total expressions sampled: 6Overall distillery score: A