Coming Soon - 2005 Signatory Vintage Speyside 18 (M) Cask No: DRU 17/A106 #41 18 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Signatory released a bunch of these high-ABV sherry casks of 'M' from the 2005 vintage, each with "rather labyrinthine cask numbers", all positively identified as Macallans at whiskyfun.com. These bottlings have received strong reviews and drawn comparisons with the style and quality of Gordon & Macphail's prolific Speymalts series of Macallans. Being single casks, they come with varying ABVs and degrees of sherry oak input. Tasting his way through a selection that included sister casks from Signatory Vintage, Serge Valentin commented, "Although the distillery – or the brand – has become something of a symbol of poshness and glitz, every tasting reminds us that it still maintains a high level of quality and deserves to be taken seriously, despite the endless stream of NAS bottlings with sometimes far-fetched stories and themes." You get none of the latter here, just a plain indie label and an impressive looking decanter holding some deep, dark liquid. Though, perhaps the most eye-catching thing about this particular Macallan is its direct import price. Will we ever see official 18 year olds at these 'modest' values again? Unlikely. Be thankful that independents like Signatory continue to exist. 677 bottles from a first fill-oloroso sherry butt make up the current outturn. 57.3% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.