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 20 year old distilled in 1978 and bottled at cask strength in 1998 for the Rare Malts series. Created in the mid-1990s by United Distillers (Diageo), the Rare Malts series features bottlings from many of the group’’s distilleries, including some of the lesser known whose production was generally used for blends, as well as closed distilleries such as Port Ellen and Brora. Bottled at cask strength, the whiskies in the range are also known for their sometimes astounding alcohol content, often exceeding 60% ABV. The Rare Malts range was discontinued in 2005.