It's safe to say now that the Diageo "Game of Thrones" scotch experiment was - sadly - not a success. These attempts to lure your average HBO viewer to the world of expensive liquor was (perhaps) well intentioned, and maybe even well executed, but didn't really pay off. Most scotch drinkers I know considered it some kind of joke, and all the liquor store owners I chatted with said the bottled were hard as hell to move.
The original Game of Thrones collection had the following bottlings:
- Game of Thrones House Stark – Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost
- Game of Thrones House Tully – Singleton of Glendullan Select
- Game of Thrones House Targaryen – Cardhu Gold Reserve
- Game of Thrones House Lannister – Lagavulin 9 Year Old
- Game of Thrones The Night’s Watch – Oban Bay Reserve
- Game of Thrones House Greyjoy – Talisker Select Reserve
- Game of Thrones House Baratheon – Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old
- Game of Thrones House Tyrell – Clynelish Reserve
The final bottle was this - the "Six Kingdoms" Mortlach 15 YearMortlach - often called "The Beast of Dufftown" for its heavy, meaty, nigh-brutal spirit character - is famous distilled 2.81 times using a complex technique I won't get into here. This 15 year expression is matured in first-fill sherry casks before being finished in ex-bourbon casks. Interesting. Bottled at 46%, let's see how well Mortlach represents the "six kingdoms" of Game of Thrones... or, more to the point, represents the wonderful distillery that is Mortlach:
Nose: Heavy. Thick slabs of meat, heavy fruit (overripe apples, raisins or prunes, figs, and dates), ripe banana and pineapple, and a curious metallic overtone. Scotchnoob described this as "pennies," but I'm not sure I agree, exactly. Vanilla frosting. Red velvet cake. Fresh peaches, cooked in butter. Something earthy lurking. A pretty complex nose, all in all.
Mouthfeel: Extremely heavy mouthfeel - the reputation is deserved - this is weirdly chewy in a way I'm not used to. Full of oils that stick all over the inside of your mouth and won't let go.
Palate: Wow, tons of sherry here. Follows the nose more or less closely, with a slightly more accentuated sherry profile: banana and pineapple cake, vanilla, meat/sulfur, lots of prunes and figs and dates and peach, brown sugar, and some odd mineral/metal notes. Quite solid due to the robust mouthfeel. Some oak on the end of the development, and some chocolate/cocoa powder.
Finish: Oak, red dried fruit, ethanol, hints of smoke, copper, meat. A pretty robust finish flavor-wise, but not super long.
Verdict: This is good - it's even quite good - but it's not going to blow anyone off the face of the Earth. I paid $100 for this, on sale, and I'd say that is fair, the approximate value of a 15 year scotch from the heart of Speyside that has been matured in sherry and finished in bourbon. It's full of robust flavors - it reminds me strongly of Edradour, strangely - along with that odd metallic thing going on - and it will please anyone on a cold, late night... but it's not spectacular. I doubt it will make anyone's "Whisky of the Year" ... but it will certainly please many a tongue. So, make of that what you will. An interesting encounter with Mortlach, that's for sure. Hesitantly recommended, if you find it on sale.
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