Mortlach Distillery — Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Mortlach Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland. It was founded in 1823 and is currently owned by Diageo. Known as "The Beast of Dufftown" for its rich, meaty, sulphury character, Mortlach uses an unusual partial triple-distillation regime across six stills that makes it one of the most complex and distinctive malts in Speyside.

History

Mortlach was established in 1823 by James Findlater in the wake of the 1823 Excise Act, on the site of an earlier illicit still, making it the first legally licensed distillery in Dufftown — a town that would later become home to six more distilleries, including Glenfiddich in 1887. The distillery passed through several private owners in its early decades before undergoing major expansion in 1897 under the direction of noted distillery architect Charles C. Doig, when a rail siding connected it directly to the Strathspey line. In 1923, John Walker & Sons acquired Mortlach, and much of its output since has gone into Johnnie Walker and other blends. The company became part of Distillers Company Limited in 1925, which was acquired by Guinness in 1986; Guinness's 1997 merger with Grand Metropolitan created Diageo, Mortlach's current owner. Mortlach is distinguished by its idiosyncratic "2.81" distillation process — six stills of varying shapes and sizes through which the spirit passes a partial triple distillation — a method largely unchanged since the 19th century and unique among Scotch distilleries. In 2014, Diageo relaunched Mortlach as a standalone single malt brand with a redesigned core range after an earlier attempt was criticized for high pricing.

Quick Facts

• Region: Speyside
• Founded: 1823
• Owner: Diageo
• Status: Active
• Stills: 3 wash stills and 3 spirit stills (unusual "2.81" partial triple-distillation regime)

Core Range

Diageo markets Mortlach as a standalone single malt with a small core range, all bottled at 43.4% ABV: the 12 Year Old "The Wee Witchie", the 16 Year Old "Distiller's Dram", and the 20 Year Old "Cowie's Blue Seal", along with a 14 Year Old "Alexander's Way" for travel retail. Mortlach spirit is also a longstanding key component of Johnnie Walker blends.