Secret Orkney 13-year-old (D.2009, B.2023) Signatory Vintage /46% / 0.7l

Signatory Vintage, founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington, is a leading independent publisher and distributor of whisky.

Few people remember that Symington started with just £100,000 and nearly went bankrupt several times in the first five years of their business. The name “Signatory” means Signatory and Symington originally intended to hire someone famous to sign each edition with their signature on the label. The first cask of whisky bottled by Signatory was Glenlivet 1968, but before the company found the right signatory, there was no trace of the whisky. The whisky presented here, distilled at a “secret” distillery in Orkney on 31 March 2009, spent 13 years in refill hogsheads and was bottled in January 2023, in the popular Un-chillfiltered Collection series.

Nose: vanilla, heather honey, apples, peaches, pears, lemon jam, white pepper, salted peanuts, damp gravel and peat smoke in the background.

Taste: slightly smoky, smoked seafood, toffee, salted caramel, honey, apples, gooseberries, ginger biscuits, white pepper and a delicate mineral note.

Finish : quite long, salty, with notes of honey, vanilla, white pepper, nutmeg and peat smoke.