Pretty tough to find older Mortlachs these day especially older stocks. So many people want these in sherry, but I find it incredible refreshing and informative to see a bit of a naked version of famous distilleries at this more mature age range. The beast of Dufftown in all its malty complexity on full display. Let's go! The color is pale gold (0.3). It's a total sleep on the nose, not unusual for this distillery, and absolutely needs time in the glass before getting into there. With 10-20 minutes to open the depth because much more obvious. Big clean malt coupled with subtle heather and wildflower honey. With more time in the glass even still, we're starting to offer unusual notes of ripe persimmon, almond skin, verbena, and barley tea. On the palate, the richness becomes clearer, and the oily texture is absolutely lovely - there's a very solid Johnnie Walker Blue comparison on the front palate which is full of sweet malt and earthy spice before relenting toward darker fudgy notes and a big cinnamon character on the back. With water everything is heightened, and the littlest drop is ideal here. This is a beautiful version of Mortlach that furthers our understanding of this special distillery. It might not be funky or flashy exactly, but with time in the glass and a bit of water its awesome pedigree is on full display at its core with no wine or wood in the way.