The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 letter word TOC EMMA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
O
C
E
M
M
A
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old mortar" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old mortar = toc emma.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.