A few weeks ago we got to taste the entire Special Release 2022 series by Diageo. A tough job, we know…
We went into every sample blindly, only knowing the distillery, age and maturation. Focussing on taste, what we mostly tend to do.

Previous year had a somewhat different lineup, but as far as distilleries go, there was some overlap. Mortlach was part of it too, but it didn’t came out on top. But this year, for us, it did! So let’s start the year good with our tasting notes of the Mortlach Special Release 2022.

Mortlach, known as ‘The Beast from Dufftown”, refuses to shy away from its strong and unique flavors, but this time they added a twist of experimental influences. The whisky has been finished in barrels of virgin oak, ex-tawny port and ex-muscat red wine barrels. Wine and port influences don’t always blend well in our experience. But this time they did an excellent job in elevating the flavours even further and introducing new layers of sweetness and spices.

It’s a whisky that isn’t afraid to stand out, every sip provides a new taste experience, alternating between sweet and savoury. A must-have in our books, until we looked up the price. Since it has no age statement, we expected it to be somewhere around €100-120. Reality is that it’s almost a threefold. Ouch! If it was half of the current retail price, we would consider buying, but we just can’t justify the price. Even with a how beautiful and tasty this one is and with the ABV of 57.8%, we’ll have to do with the good memories for now ;)