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 16 year old from the Flora and Fauna range. The Flora and Fauna range was introduced in 1991 and followed in the footsteps of the Classic Malts range, which was introduced in 1988 and featured six single malts deemed to be the most iconic. Flora and Fauna offers a wider range of distilleries in the United Distillers group, with 22 single malts in total, including some less well-known malts that were generally reserved for the group’’s blends. The range owes its name to the famous whisky specialist Michael Jackson and refers to the labels depicting animals and wildlife. These bottlings have become difficult to find and many are simply no longer sold.