The French importer and bottler Le Gus’t recently delivered another beautiful bottling. This time they bottled a Mortlach 1995, which has matured in a sherry cask for 25 years. Something you don’t see very often and in combination with the very good reputation of Le Gus’t and the reasonable price for such a bottle, I think it’s needless to say, that it sold out immediately.
These lady and gentlemen know exactly what they are doing. They set very high standards for themselves and that is reflected very well in their bottlings. They don’t release much, I believe this is only the 3rd bottle this year, but I have never encountered a bad or even mediocre bottling from Le Gus’t. Everything they release is simply of very good quality and it is one of the few bottlers that I would buy a bottle from blindly. Unfortunately, I just missed out on this one, but I managed to get a sample through a friend, so I still had the chance to taste it. 🙂
This Mortlach has matured in a sherry butt for 25 years and is bottled at a strength of 45,8%.
Mortlach 1995 tasting notes:
Nose: wow, this is really good! Red apples, quickly followed by a whiff of nutmeg. Honey. A floral note. Oranges and apricots. But also a hint of leather and tobacco. Subtle oak too.
Taste: quite tasteful. A little less fruity than the nose suggests. Oranges mostly. It are the spices that come more forward here: nutmeg, ginger and cloves. But also honey. Leather. A bit of oak and dark chocolate as well.
Finish: long and more towards fruits again.
A very good Mortlach in my opinion, but needs a little time to develop. The oak is present, but fortunately not too much. And I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t dry at all, something you would expect with this type of whisky. Another winner from Le Gus’t. Well done guys!
Photo credit: Whiskybase
Thanks a lot!!
This year was difficult for travel, as soon as possible we choose our cask directly in scotland. This is the reason for just 3 botttling but next will be better for number of cask.
Cheers! It was indeed. Let’s hope that 2021 will be better.
Sounds tasty and interesting. Normally I would choose a ex-bourbon barrel for a long time maturation, if it’s a Single Cask release. But there are some good releases out there (like the Cooper’s Choice Sherry Beast).
Maybe we’ll see this dram at the 2021 Gathering and I’ll definitely try it!
If you can find it there, taste it. It’s just really good. I think you’d love this one too.