Orkney 18-year-old (D.2005, B.2023) Signatory Vintage / 54.6% / 0.7l

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

Few remember that Symington started with just £100,000 and nearly went bankrupt several times in the first five years of operation. The name "Signatory" means Signatory and originally Symington intended to hire someone famous to sign each edition on the label. Their first edition was Glenlivet 1968, but before the company found the right signatory, there was no trace of the whisky. The whisky presented here comes from a distillery in Orkney (the initial "HP" may be a clue). Distilled on 7th May 2005, it spent 18 years in a fresh Oloroso sherry butt (no. DRU 17 A63 #7), and was bottled on 22nd August 2023, in the Cask Strength Collection series in an edition of 452 bottles.

Nose: leather sofa, sherry, dark chocolate, bitter orange jam, honey, dried herbs, almonds, traces of dried mushrooms and wax and smoke in the background.

Palate: slightly oily, toffee, heather honey, dark chocolate, coffee, dried figs, blackberries, roasted almonds, nutmeg, black pepper, herbal and tobacco notes.

Finish: medium long, slightly smoky, with notes of chocolate, honey, blend, nutmeg, sherry and oak.