Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owner: DiageoJoining the John Walker & Sons team (Distillers Company Ltd) in 1925, Mortlach boasts a unique past in the history of Scotch whisky. Over some 20 years up until 1885, it was here that William Grant earned his stripes and learnt how to run a distillery before embarking on what would be a true story of success, the creation of the company William Grant & Sons, owner of Glenfiddich. Mortlach was also one of very few distilleries to be allowed to continue distilling during WWII (except in 1944). Finally, its aromatic profile is characterized by a special distillation method that almost verges on triple distillation. Whilst not large in number, several special bottlings of Mortlach are available aged 10 to 12 years old and presented in bottles and jugs. From the 1990s, it followed in the footsteps of all other United Distillers & Vintners distilleries and presented various versions in The Rare Malts Selection, Flora & Fauna and Manager's Dram ranges.

A Mortlach distilled in 1938 and bottled in the mid-1980s by Gordon & MacPhail. Distillers Company Limited (DCL) granted bottling licenses to Gordon & MacPhail for many distilleries, including Linkwood, Mortlach and Talisker. They can be identified by the eagle depicted on the label. Theses licenses were recalled and returned to the distilleries in the late 1980s, but Gordon & MacPhail continued to buy and bottle their whiskies in the Distillery Labels range. Gordon & MacPhail is one of Scotland’’s oldest independent bottlers. It was founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. As was often the case at the time, the business started out as a delicatessen and wine merchant. In 1915, John Alexander MacPhail retired and a new partner joined the business, John Urquhart. He was joined by his son George in 1933, a few years after James Gordon sadly died in a car crash. Gordon & MacPhail works with many of Speyside’’s leading distilleries, from whom it has accumulated considerable stocks. It is also licensed to bottle whiskies for many of them, including Glen Grant, Linkwood, Mortlach, Macallan and Glenlivet. The business really took off in the 1970s, acquiring distributors in a huge range of countries and selling casks to several Italian bottlers in selections that would become legends in their own right. Gordon & MacPhail is still run by the Urquhart family today, from the same building, and is one of the most iconic bottlers in the industry, with incredible stocks of sometimes very old and rare whiskies. The company is in complete control of the entire maturation process. Gordon & MacPhail has also owned the Benromach distillery since 1993.