Mortlach 1990-2004 - 13 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 3766

Mortlach is one of the greatest Speyside whiskies in Diageo’s portfolio. The distillery’s robust, gutsy, earthy, beefy new make is a result of running the stills fast and using worm tub condensers, which minimises copper contact and gives a powerfully flavoured, deliberately sulphury new make that is frequently matured in sherry casks. 

Following the discontinuation of the much-loved Mortlach 16-year-old Flora & Fauna, the first official Mortlach core range was introduced in 2014 but flopped disastrously due to comically high pricing; the subsequent relaunch in 2018, with a return to reality-based pricetags, has been much more successful.  Gordon & MacPhail were previous licensed bottlers of Mortlach and have bottled the greatest examples from the distillery, including the famous Book of Kells editions and the extraordinary Generations bottlings, which included the first 70 and 75-year-old single malt whiskies ever bottled.

Signatory Vintage Whisky Company was founded by Andrew Symington in 1988 after a spell as assistant manager at the Prestonfield House Hotel, where he had the opportunity to buy a cask of Glenlivet 1968. A robust and canny businessman, Symington had soon acquired some outstanding parcels of casks from great distilleries, and quickly established a reputation among single malt fans for good value, high quality single casks, the majority of which were released at full strength.

Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Signatory released outstanding whisky from Ardbeg, Glenfarclas, Springbank and many more, with frequently remarkable examples of lost or obscure distilleries. Soon established as one of the leading new wave independent bottlers, Symington was also an early exponent of bottling whiskies without colouring or chill filtration, a policy that has also served Signatory well at their Edradour distillery, which was purchased in 2002.