Mortlach 1938-1999 - 60 Year Old - Gordon & MacPhail - Crystal Decanter

Mortlach 1938 - 1999. 60 Year Old. Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. In bespoke lockable brass and wooden presentation box accompanied by glass stopper, matching miniature and certificate. 75cl. 40%.

We’re very excited to present this extremely rare bottling of Mortlach 60 year old. Distilled on 20th October 1938, the spirit was matured in Cask 2657 – which had previously held a high-quality sherry – by Gordon & MacPhail before being bottled in 1999 at the grand old age of 60 years old. Gordon & MacPhail have a spectacular track record with Mortlach 1938 (not to mention 1936 and 1939!).  Bottlings from the 1938 vintage have been released from the Elgin-based bottler since the early 1980s, originally under the old white label and Connoisseurs Choice brands. In 1988, the first special presentation G&M Mortlach 1938 appeared as a 50yo bottled under the iconic ‘Book of Kells’ label. Everyone knows about the incredible Mortlach 1938 70 year old Gordon & MacPhail ‘Generations’ series that was the world’s oldest whisky at the time of release in 2008, but a lot of people aren’t quite so familiar with this particular Mortlach 1938 – a sister cask to the Generations – that was released at the turn of the century.

There are a few possible reasons for this. Firstly, the whisky appeared in 1999, when every distillery and bottler in Scotland was churning out Millennium special editions, and every week saw unprecedented numbers of new releases on the market. Secondly, there were just 100 of these beautiful bottles released, and speaking of the bottle, many of you will have seen the elegant crystal decanter and noticed that it’s the same as the Dalmore 50 year old we auctioned last month! The beautiful copper presentation case, meanwhile was designed and made by Forsyth’s of Rothes, the distillery coppersmiths, in the style of a windowed wash still front using only burnished copper, wood and brass, as a tribute to the craftsmanship of the coppersmiths and the coopers.

The brass lock, meanwhile, ‘recalls bygone times when glass-encased spirit safes were sealed and checked daily by excisemen’. The handmade nature of the case is reflected in the visible dimple marks from the coppersmith’s hammers. The case has a special drawer containing a crystal stopper and a separate miniature bottle of the same spirit with the more familiar Book of Kells-inspired label that many people will associate with previous bottlings of Mortlach 1938 and other Gordon & MacPhail prestige bottlings from the likes of Clynelish, Strathisla and Glen Grant. The miniature itself is highly prized, and has gone for as much as £260 at previous auctions.