Mortlach Distillery

The distillery was first sold in 1831 to John Robertson, the first of many times it would change hands. Even at a time when whisky was thriving, Mortlach experienced a decline early in its existence. In 1837, it was bought by the Grant brothers, John and James. They quickly cannibalized Mortlach for equipment for their own Glen Grant distillery in Rothes, and production ceased.

The distillery reopened in 1851, slowly resuming distillation under John Gordon, who had been using it as a brewery in the intervening years. But the next major chapter in its history came two years later when George Cowie became a co-owner. He became the sole owner in 1867 when Gordon died, and was later succeeded by his son Alexander Cowie in the 1890s. Alexander went on to increase the number of stills from three to six in 1897.

In 1923, Alexander Cowie sold Mortlach to John Walker & Sons. This set the distillery on the path to its current owners, Diageo. Distillers Company Limited bought John Walker & Sons just two years after acquiring Mortlach. The distillery underwent significant changes under their ownership, with major renovations in 1964 and the closure of the floor malt houses in 1968.

The distillery is equipped with a 12-ton mash tun, six Douglas Fir washbasins and six stills.

Despite having an even number of wash and spirit stills, Mortlach is known for its extremely complex distillation process. Two stills operate with traditional double distillation, but the other four divide their process in an unusual way. The bottom wines from the first two wash stills are divided unevenly between their spirits counterparts of varying sizes. Eighty percent goes to one still, while the remaining 20 percent is sent to the smallest, called the Wee Witchie. In this still, the charge is distilled a total of three times. The end result of this process is that new spirits have been distilled at Mortlach a total of 2.81 times. Wooden worm tubs and copper worm tubes are still used for cooling, which gives the spirit a meaty character. With distillery water drawn from a spring in the Conval Hills, Mortlach has an annual production capacity of 3.8 million liters.

Mortlach's core range consists of the 12-year-old Wee Witchie, the 16-year-old Distillers Dram, and the 20-year-old Cowie's Blue Seal. This new range was launched together in 2018 to replace a previous range from 2014. The 12-year-old, named after the smallest pot still used for spirits, has a robust nose of spice, toffee, and rich fruit. On the palate, it is full of strong flavors of dark chocolate, marmalade, and tobacco before a dry, bitter finish.

In 2019, a 26-year-old bottling was released as part of the Special Releases Range. It is a double-aged sherry, matured in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso barrels to give it an extra spicy touch.