Mortlach 14 Sestante (Late 70's Import) Review

Hi everyone,

Hunt down old Mortlach. If you love whisky, hunt down old Mortlach.

Perhaps its me getting soft, but its been very rare that I give a score in the 90’s. So giving my first 94 and finding another 92 on the same day was a big treat. This was the last dram I tasted in Groningen at WFNN.

Sestante was a legendary Italian bottler operating in the 80’s and 90’s with a similar reputation to Samaroli. I was dithering between two old Mortlach’s and this one was recommended to me as one of the best Mortlach’s ever bottled. Sold! I shouted (only in my head mind you), before clasping the glass like a new born baby.

 

Mortlach 14 Sestante (Late 70's Import) 57%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Really old school. Dried blood comes off immediately. Meaty, Sherry, heavy style with beeswax, old brass, old worn leather, very dark chocolate and some amazing dried raspberry. So many complex oils and florals underneath.

Taste: Huge but soft, amazing distillate, amazing cask. Heavy sherry, meaty, so firm, in your face but oh so balanced and long, raisin, leather, oily for days.

Finish: Long length. So oily and classy and firm. More meaty here with the dried blood making a thundering return, dark chocolate, chocolate/cocoa powder.

An import for Italy, probably distilled in the 60’s. What a stunning, stunning whisky! With some water the nose opened up a little more with these lovely medicinal notes but the taste became a little too dry and oaky.

92/100

Distillery: Mortlach

Average Score: 80.3

Distillery Ranking: 8th/ 62 places

Up/Down: 14> 8 (Up 6)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #608

Whisky Network Review #720

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?