One of the last remaining first-fill Pedro Ximenez / Oloroso seasoned oak butt casks from 1994. The result is a 25-year-old with robust muscularity – the deep, rich style of mature Mortlach that earned its name as ‘The Beast of Dufftown’, by whisky expert Dave Broom. "This is an unrepeatably rare opportunity to enjoy the style of mature Mortlach that made it famous as ‘The Beast of Dufftown’. It comes from one of our very last 1994 first-fill Pedro Ximenez/Oloroso seasoned European Oak butts, which expresses to the full the wonderful texture and taste of this malt when fully mature. Unlike other Speyside whiskies, Mortlach, when matured in such a cask for years, is truly deep and rich in flavour, with an almost meaty, robust muscularity. That it is so different from other Speysides is no surprise when you see how the distillery works to produce a single 2.81 distilled spirit. With three sets of stills effectively operating in parallel, this is a complex distilling regime, but a whisky of such distinctive character makes the effort worthwhile. This remarkable cask has given us a glorious Mortlach, still full of vitality and with a wonderfully indulgent texture and a sweet and spicy taste. The nutty-spicy, meaty distillery character still shines through while the refill European Oak butt brings richness to what is a magnificent, many-layered 25 year old, a whisky almost as complex as the distillery itself." - Dr Jim Beveridge OBE