Mortlach 16-year-old

Blind sample May 2026, coloured glencairn. Aroma – clay, immediately. Fairly muted. Slowly it develops a note of lemon boiled sweets. Hint of raspberry tart, redcurrant. I definitely get a lot of red fruit notes when it's given enough time. Body is light, a little thinner than water. Taste is fairly neutral up-front, more red fruits - cherry. All those red fruits have to come from somewhere – maybe a port cask? Builds a richer flavour over time, a slight waxiness and nicely subtle oak flavours. ABV seems low – no more than 43% and probably 40%. Distillery? I’m clueless – all I’m getting is casky vibes. There are some soft orchard fruit notes which I take as coming from the spirit. Very late on, with my very last sip of the sample, I thought I could detect some peat, which completely threw me off. Up until then I’d been thinking Speyside. Pleasant enough stuff. 3.45/82 POST-REVEAL Mortlach 16 Year Old Flora and Fauna 43%. Oh, so it is Speyside, but I don’t think Mortlach is peated, so I must have just imagined that.

One of my all time favourite whiskies. A sherried masterpiece.

In my opinion, the best of the Flora & Fauna series. This Mortlach is considered original packaging, many OA does not exist. Also bottlings of independent bottlers are highly recommended by Mortlach.

Very nice. A real Mortlach?

Intense color - mahogany! A wonderful, complex, interesting whisky that you immediately wanted to have on your shelf! 22 23 22 22

Especially when Nosing he likes to please - nice standard of Mortlach.

Score is for a bottle from around 2002 (L19T00187153) laser print on the bottle behind the label.

A balanced and really round dram. Works more mature than he is.

Amazing what this can do at bare 43% abv.

Note by Serge Valentin from whiskyfun.com: Mortlach 16yo (43%, Flora & Fauna, +/- 2011) I know many enthusiasts started to lament the loss of this now discontinued baby, but I have to confess I’ve never been a huge fan in the first place. Colour: full gold. Nose: the main difference is that this one is grassier, more mineral, more waxy. In short, certainly more austere, with more rocks and, in the background, a little ham – which doesn’t make it immensely meaty, having said that. Roasted malt as well, and less fresh oak than in the Rare Old. Touches of parsley and lovage, and even fresh asparagus, since this is now high season. Mouth: once again, this one’s much more austere, earthier, grassier, more mineral, more greasy so to speak. Big maltiness, a little bone marrow and quite a lot of dry sherry and chocolate that are coming to the front. Also oranges. Finish: quite long, and this is possibly the best part, with some olive oil coming through, a smokiness, some tobacco and some cloves. Comments: life’s a bitch. I think I like it better now that it’s discontinued, but its true I hadn’t tried the F&F since ages. SGP:452 - 84 points.

Very nice for a bottle without pretension.

The dram seems woodier tonight than it normally does. Maybe something to do with the sampling I did earlier.

Please see the 2008 version for a tasting note. 86-87/100.

Very easy to drink. Would certainly benefit from a higher ABV.

This review is for bottle code 1127 and bottling stamp L6332CM000 05394308. Meanwhile it is years ago that I had this once standard Mortlach in my glass, so i opened another bottle out of my stock tonight - simply to check if it is quite as good as I do remember. The nose is heavy Paxarette sherry: nothing more, nothing less.  One dimensional, but what a dimension....  Brutal shocking - but if you love this flavor it is great!  On the palate it gets two-dimensional: Besides the fat sherry you clearly taste the creamy, creme brulee-like signature of the Mortlach malt.  There are not many malts that can stand such heavy sherry influence, but Mortlach can! But the best thing about this dram:  It is totally sulphur-free (most recent Mortlachs are spoiled with nasty sulphur notes - do they have no cask management at Mortlach or do they have a blind sulphur spot?  By the way:  The Scottish whisky sales reps in the Middle and Far East state that sulphur notes are a tradition to the Scotch whisky industry - I call this simply a shameless lie!  Why the hell are all the stills and condensers made of expensive copper (that reduces unwanted aromes most prominent sulphur) and not made of much cheaper steel (that does nothing in this respect)??? I really like sulphur-free heavy sherried Mortlachs (the same way as I hate the sulphured ones)...

This one is too weak for me. It's a sad day when a Mortlach is rated highly because it hasn't been ruined by sulfur. I can remember the good ole days when sulfur wasn't so much of a thing and the Mortlachs were nicely savory with a porcini thing going on that I just loved, almost a steak fat thing too. Miss those old Mortlachs. This one is pretty good but "speak memory" it doesn't hold a candle to the old days. Granted, the ABV's weren't that high back then either, generally speaking. I seem to recall an Italian import Mortlach that just blew me away in the 1990's. Since it was cask strength it can only have been, you guessed it, Samaroli. But that was so long ago. The new Samaroli co bottle a Mort back a few years, I think in 2017. It had a pretty respectable ABV if memory serves. I'm sure if it was any good then it's long gone now aside from auctions.

Speyside 16 yo dark tea colour sherry cask 43% abv Complex, soft and rich nose, full-bodied, rounded and deep palate. Smooth and juicy finish. Well balanced and cask influenced. I can't belive it's just 43%.... great dram

A damn good no nonsense Mortlach, now discontinued in favour a new 'premium' range of malts.

Easy to drink Macallan style sherry, the best F&F so far. 87/88.

Very nice nose, though reserved. The mouth and the finish are a little disappointing in comparison. Sample.

Two samples, one tasted in 2013, then next in Oct 2014 N: Fresh spirit offering bananas and pineapples, dark and rich vanillas, caramel, biscuit notes and blueberries. Overall its honeyed sherry fruit biscuits all the way - sherried wonderfulness and sulphur free. T: Sherried honey wine (Sauternes like sweetness) arrival. Cloves and marvellous lush and moorish sherry wood. Saccharin notes later with toffee and caramel coming through to the fore matched by the rich sherry fruits. F: Fresh spearmint [gum], sweet cough sweets, anise, caramel, spicy wood and hints of chocolate. Mild ayurvedic toothpaste at the death. C: Moorish, quality regular drinker for sherry fans. Scores a B N: Sherry rich, coffee, lots of malt, malt biscuits, mineral dirtiness, rich sherried caramel, looking and smelling a lot older than a 16yo. Slight cardboard mustiness, forest canopy vibe - good stuff T: Sharp, sweet, sherried spirit with citrus, salty, savoury and floury with sustained intensity and a watery body F: Fresh, woody sweet with spices C: Good stuff Scores a B

Quite a balanced whisky, however, I would like to desire a better and more complex finish finish

16 Flowers and Birds are very distinctive. As the only OB for a long time, what can be said in the same series is the horns, which has the potential to attract people.

Beautiful.

N: sherry, raisins, hazelnut, gingerbread T: Nutty, spicy, walnut F: medium

Schedule in an hour for this. Pour yourself a dram, close the door, light a wood fire, close your eyes and enjoy. This deserves it.

Like a glass of oatmeal with brown sugar, maple, and raisins. Almost a cross between Edradour and Macallan. Doesn't take water too well.

http://whiskyclub-fs.de/2016/05/23/whisky-vorstellung-mortlach-16-flora-fauna-43vol/

Fabulous! In my view, the quality-to-price ratio cannot get much better.

This is a very good malt for the money, I think the Macallan 18yo is better.

A very well balanced whisky with a characteristic and sophisticated flavor profile. This will surely be missed. Thanks to Mats Linderborg for the sample. (Rating interval 85-89)

This is a good one, although would probably benefit from higher ABV and less colorant: I associate the bitterness in this one with e150. Pity that the prices are so high nowadays, would certainly be a keeper.