Review #599 - Single Malts of Scotland Mannochmore 16 Year Single Cask - Storied Company Selection
From the seldom-seen single malt of Mannochmore distillery, we have a single cask bottled by the Single Malts of Scotland brand, run by Elixir Distillers. This distillery produces unpeated or very lightly peated spirit, most of which goes into blends; there is a 'core range' Flora & Fauna bottling, and occasionally, the spirit can also be found via independent bottlers.
While this single cask was bottled through the Single Malts of Scotland, it was actually a selection done by Indianapolis-based spirits retailer Storied Company. The shop specializes in procuring uncommon spirits - whisky is one of their focuses, but they also have a unique collection of wines, rums, agave, Armagnac, and much more. As their goal is to offer spirits that are more tricky to find, their Scotch single cask picks are often from lesser-seen producers.
The Mannochmore whisky in the selected cask was distilled in 2007 and comes with a nice mid-teen age statement of 16 years; it spent that time maturing in an ex-bourbon hogshead. The strength at the end of maturation was 54.5% ABV.
Single Malts of Scotland Mannochmore 16 Year Single Cask - Storied Company Selection
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 159 (2025)
Age Statement: 16 Years
Strength: 54.5% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon hogshead
Details: Cask 5999, distilled April 17, 2007, bottled August 7, 2023; 182 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 9 months; bottles at 100% (blind tasting), 90% (blind tasting), 80%, and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Light and fruity - pear, guava - with malty notes and some cream like a custard. Cinnamon adds a soft spice, and there's an oily depth, even in the nose. Grapefruit, lemon meringue, and melon come next... key lime pie, too. Time brings a lactic note, almost like vanilla Greek yogurt; heather and perfume are accents at the end.
Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel; great weight in the spirit, quite viscous, but also fizzy - light orchard fruits, juicy pears and some dry peach, maybe tangy nectarine. There are more subtle hints of mineral notes and purple flowers later, and we get guava and a very soft phenolic note - just a tiny hint of peat, possibly.
Finish: Soft tannins build - this doesn't taste overly old, but there's a subtle, warming oak that grows in strength. Nicely rounded, with different flavor facets: citrus, vanilla, a bit of pepper, floral heather. It's a medium-long finish, soft and velvety in the end.
Final Note: A lot of our previous experience with Mannochmore has been through bottlings that employed a healthy dose of sherry maturation or finishing; in contrast, this Single Malts of Scotland bottling shows more of the true character of the distillate with that gentler bourbon cask maturation. Lots of light, pretty fruits and some malt, but also some nice oily weight and density, especially with those creamy notes. This is a great example of the distillery, one that offers something new each time you come back.
As for value - this bottle is a bit expensive, dropping our value ratio down a bit. That said, it's a hard distillery to find, and it comes from a very high quality bottler, so we would be willing to splurge on a bottle.
Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.54
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
