Signatory Ben Nevis 1992 16-Year Cask-Strength Collection
Signatory is a whisky bottler that I’ve been tasting a number of very interesting malts from recently. They have two lines that I’ve been tasting whiskies from, their cask-strength and single-barrel offerings.
The single-barrel offerings have been interesting, and have included both sherry and bourbon casks. Each bottling is reduced to ~43%. Interestingly, many of these feature a very similar quality, a sort of soft luster, similar to old Hollywood films where they would use soft-focus when shooting close-ups of star actresses. These Signatory whiskies all tend to have this overtly pleasant, approachable element to them. They’re quite tasty and enjoyable, but not necessarily thought-provoking.
The cask-strength (often also single-barrel) whiskies are another beast entirely. Each is a pretty unique expression of the distillery in question, and the flavor spectrum tends to be rather dynamic and interesting. The whiskies bottled in their teens have been fairly exciting, and the older whiskies a bit more austere and difficult to approach. But all in all, a pretty good series of whiskies, highly recommended.
This bottle of Ben Nevis is from the latter series. The distillery is owned by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company of Japan, who are themselves well-known for the whiskies they produce in their home country. Founded in 1820, Ben Nevis went on to become the first distillery to produce both malt and grain whisky when a Coffey still was installed in 1955. Today, Ben Nevis produces only malt whisky, to the tune of approximately 2 million liters per year. Bourbon, sherry, and French wine casks are used for aging.
This bottling is from a sherry butt, and is bottle 54 of 550. It was distilled on 7/3/1992 and bottled 16 years later on 8/15/2008. As I said, it’s cask-strength, weighing in at 54.6%.
Tasting Notes
The whisky is coppery gold in the glass, with some very nice, compelling beading along the edge. The nose is sweet and fruity, with rich, woody, sherried notes, maple syrup, and an undercurrent of citrus. The palate has a beguiling, mouth-coating texture, and is powerful and a bit overwhelming at full strength. The flavors are rich and sweet, with brown sugar, candied apples, rum-soaked fruit, a whiff of smoke, and a hint of citrus. The finish is long-lasting and spellbinding, with incredible notes of oak, creme brulee, caramelized turbinado sugar, and brown sugar syrup.
All in all, a great whisky. It took a fair amount of water to tame, but afterwards was both gentle and rich in the glass. Like I said, Signatory’s been bottling some very nice whiskies as part of this cask-strength line, and I’d highly recommend giving them a roll next time you’re on the hunt for a tasty malt to add to your collection.
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