Mortlach

A DISTILLERY TIMELINE MORTLACH

1853. John Gordon takes sole ownership of the distillery the previous year, George Cowie joins under his helm. Previous to this, George was an engineer, working through the Golden Age of Victorian Engineering. With his pioneering mind, audacious spirit and true determination, George was a leader within the new distillery workforce. 1897. George’s son Alexander takes control of the distillery following his father’s passing at the age of 80 1923. Dr. Alexander Cowie retires, selling Mortlach to John Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock

1939-1945.

Mortlach is one of the few distilleries to continue producing whisky during World War Two.

1823. Mortlach is officially founded on the site of the older illicit distillery – becoming the first legal distillery in Dufftown, now one of the epicentres of Speyside whisky distilling. 1867. George Cowie takes over as owner of the Mortlach Distillery as the whisky renowned for its depth and flavour, attracts the attention of blenders across Scotland. 1901. Post the introduction of the pioneering 2.81 distilled malt, Dr. Alexander Cowie becomes an esteemed figure within the malt whisky industry and is elected Chairman of the North Scotland Malt Distillers Association, representing over 40 distilleries in the region. 1964. Major expansions to the Mortlach Distillery help satisfy demand for the spirit, but key and original patterns of operations are left untouched such as the wooden worm tubs used to cool and condense the spirit.

Mortlach is ‘The Beast of Dufftown’. Its character harks back to a time when whiskies were bigger, bolder, darker. Since 1896 our spirit has been precisely 2.81 times distilled. It drifts through a tangle of copper pipes and six stills of differing silhouettes 0.81 more times than is Scotch tradition. In over 120 years step nor still has been altered from Dr.Alexander Cowie’s original vision.

1986. George bestowed it all to Alexander when he died, and Alexander doubled the stills his father left him. Alexander is not a distiller by trade and has not long returned from a posting in the exotic climes of Hong Kong, where he spent five years practising medicine. 2018. The spirit is reborn with the introduction of four new expressions, including a 16-year-old that was inspired by the iconic original which was produced only for a fortunate few Distillery workers

1971. A small batch of whisky with a uniquely layered and beautiful flavour was distilled. Too precious and unique to consumed right away, it was set aside to mature, to ripen, and to bring out a symphony of flavours representative of the Singing Stills from which it is distilled. 1987. There are now three wash stills and three spirit stills, all gleaming copper but each completely unique in size and shape. Spirit still No. 1 is the smallest of them all. She is called The ‘Wee Witchie’. Dr. Alexander Cowie crafts the precise, enigmatically unique 2.81 distillation process which has been continued and remains unchanged to this day, and is known as ‘The Way’. The new range is comprised of three core range expressions that pay tribute to the illustrious history of the distillery – a 12year old “Wee Witchy”, 16 year old “Distillers Dram” - and 20-year-old “Cowies Blue Seal”– as well as a 14-year-old “Alexanders Way” which is a travel retail (duty free) exclusive. Three of the four expressions have been bottled at 43.4% abv – the original bottling strength of Mortlach in the early 1900s.