1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old Review

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old is a single, first-fill sherry, cask of Mortlach aged for 22 years and picked out by the folks at K&L with some assistance from the folks at Alexander Murray.

The Label was designed by one of the guys at K&L which makes it stand out as something even more unique than just being a single barrel. I picked up the rest of the new Faultlines they got in and while I’m not opening them anytime soon I’m excited for the day I do and see these labels staring back in a tasting line-up.

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22-Year-Old Review: Details and Tasting Notes

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old Color

In K&L’s Words: 1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old

“We almost never see Mortlach available for sale by the cask in Scotland. If we do it’s almost certainly in a third or fourth fill barrel and almost certainly young and expensive. Even the underwhelming NAS bottling from the distillery still costs $100. Why is it so expensive and hard to get? That answer starts with a J and ends with a Walker.

There’s just too much money in that special blend to let these casks out of the system. When they do make it out, there’s usually a reason. On the rarest of occasion, likely the result some fortuitous clerical error or bad bets by a London executive, we might happen across something like this. Two decades old Mortlach always raises eyebrows around here.

Tell me it’s been aged in a fresh sherry butt, can be sold for around $100, and tastes amazing? I’m looking like a Vince McMahon Reaction meme -almost a wrestling reference. Even more exciting is that truly is Mortlach for the masses. Sometimes the beefy gnarly quality of the distillery, the result of an unusual multi-still distillation process, can overwhelm the uninitiated.

This cask, however, is so fun and forgiving with all that wonderful Mortlach meat playing second fiddle to the dense sherry and dark malt flavors. There’s no question that this is going to be the cask, among all our recent Faultline releases to consider stocking deep. It’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see value and quality converging quite like this again. Let’s all pray that we can keep pulling casks this good.”

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22-Year-Old price, ABV, age and other details

Region: Speyside, Scotland

Distiller: Mortlach
Bottler: K&L / Faultline
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: First Fill Sherry Butt
Age: 22 Years
ABV: 53.3%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Price: $120

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22-Year-OldTasting Notes

EYE
Ruddy Copper

NOSE
Juicy dark fruit, sherry sweetness, malt, cocoa, raisins, orange rind and a bit of leather.

PALATE
Sherry, raisiny dark fruit, spice, cocoa, malt, leather, fruit syrup, brown sugar and a bit of orange zest and nuts.

FINISH
Long -> Sherry, malt, cocoa, spice and oak.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, round full body and a warm oily feel.

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old Review – OVERALL

1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old Review

At first the alcohol kicks like a mule, but give the 1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old some time, or even a bit of water, and it evens out into something that’s bold without being too overpowering. The aroma is a big juicy sniff that sets up a promise the palate misses by the narrowest of margins. The palate is dried, darker and less enveloping than the aroma, but some water…

With a splash of water the aroma takes on a bit more of an earthy / farmy nature and the juiciness of the aroma fades back a bit. The palate also takes on a bit more of a farmy nature and the finish picks up a chunk of ash, like the day after smoking a cigar. It’s a great malt and now that I’m sitting here reviewing it I kinda wish I had picked up another. The 1995 Faultline Mortlach 22 Year Old is elegant and tasty and I don’t see a reason not to enjoy it.

SCORE: 89/100 (B+)

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