Who knew the beast of Dufftown was a hog? The full-bodied dram in my glass turned out to be this Hogshead Mortlach 9, and I have to admit… I did not see that one coming!
This dram is so full bodied and fruity, that I mistakenly wrote in my tasting notes (as you’ll see later on) that I found it a bit too cask forward. The fact that it was actually aged in a refill hogshead shows just how wrong that assesment really was. That full-bodied fruity flavour is all spirit baby!
For the sake of open honesty, I’ll leave the tasting notes as is. But the fact that the intensity of the flavours come from the spirit and not the cask does change my opinion on this dram. And it proofs to myself that a little information can in fact greatly enhance an experience.
Let me explain: First and foremost a whisky should be chosen (and loved) for it’s flavours, whisky is made to enjoy and you should always drink what you enjoy the most regardless of general consensus or hype. But I am a bit of a whisky geek, and geeky whiskies do float my boat. What makes this whisky a bit geeky for me is the fact that this is not a heavily sherry influenced dram, but it does taste like one. And I absolutely love that.
Why did I dismiss it blind? Because I sometimes feel like sherry is too often (mis)used to make a whisky seem better than it really is. In some extreme cases it’s almost like you’re drinking an extra fortified sherry! Sherry whiskies are hugely popular, and distilleries and bottlers alike play on that. Give it a nice dark (natural) colour and intense fruity flavours… and it will fly off the shelves! But as a geek I like distilleries that show their own character, more than the character of either Oloroso or PX!
Now… If anyone who owns a bottle is reading this they might wonder why I’m drambling on about dark colours and sherry influences. Because indeed this Hogshead Mortlach 9 is none of those things. I tasted this in the dark and I’m heavily colourblind, but seeing the real bottle the spirit isn’t dark at all… (talk about a blind tasting). But what makes this Mortlach so cool is that it does taste like a dark heavily sherried dram… and I absolutely love that!
(Blind) Tasting Notes: Hogshead Mortlach 9
Stats:
Distillery: Mortlach
Age: 9 years old
Bottler: Hogshead Indie
ABV: 59,4%
Chill Filtered: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Nose:
Caramel fudge, with chocolate filling (mellers if anyone remembers them) paired with vanilla, raspberries and a little hint of kumquats lurking in the back. All-in-all plenty of complexity, but very well nuanced.
Palate:
Immediately a very sticky mouthfeel with tons of honey and caramel, slowly evolving into liquorice root and tree bark. The influence of the cask is very apparent here, perhaps a bit too much for my liking. There’s a very pleasant note of white pepper and cherry candy near the end though!
Finish:
The finish is long, very long. The sticky sweet notes of caramel, molasses and cherry candy seem to last the longest and make this dram one to savour for a very long time after the last sip.
