hs305 scored this whisky 89 points

This new Mortlach 16-years old is completely different from the old Flora & Fauna edition (less sherry-driven) but it is a very Traditional Scotch style dram that is flawless (no sulphur-spoiled cask in this batch what is a great achievement for Mortlach that is infamous for many sulphurous drams), it is perfectly balanced and dangerously quaffable. To be honest, I fell in love with this dram from the very first sip on and this did not change until now (when half of the bottle is gone already). It is neither the most complex nor the most impressive whisky but it is what whisky should be: Easy to sip, delicious and very, very enjoyable...
PS: Always remember there are many different batches of such standard drams - my review is on batch L8283DM002 (bottling hall code on the bottom of the back side of the bottle) that was bottled on October 10th, 2018. Later releases might be quite different (see my review on batch L9016 WB id 130617)...
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The colour is russetmuscat (with the help of caramel as stated on the german label) and the nose offers a flawless modern sherry profile with bold toffee and malty aromas. There are spicy and waxy notes too, all in all a delicious and balanced profile.
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The taste is rich on both clean sherry and toffee-vanilla malt flavours in a close-to-perfection mix. No flaw or off-note that I can find, this simply is quaffable without "analysis paralysis" before - a malt that demands what it is destined for: to be enjoyed in good company! Water is not needed.
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The arrival of the dram is very creamy and nicely coating without any distracting feeling. The finish is long and vanishes slowly without any distracting feeling. Congrats to a honest and (hopefully) successful repositioning of this fine malt, Diageo - and by the way, I like the bottle design...