Description

Orkney 2005 Aged 18 Years Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Cask Strength Collection By Signatory Vintage (700ml)

Volume: 700ml           ABV: 54.9%           Age: 18 Years Old           Country: Scotland

Cask Number(s): DRU17 A63 #1
Date of Distilling: 07/05/2005
Date of Bottling: 03/10/2023
Matured In: 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt

Signatory Vintage are an independent bottler founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington. The name ‘Signatory’ was derived from the initial intention to find a person of suitable standing to sign the labels for bottles drawn from a single cask. The first cask bottled was a 1968 Glenlivet which quickly sold through long before any suitable signee could be found. Signatory currently bottle at three strengths: 43%, 46% Unchillfiltered (UCF) and Cask Strength.To add proof of authenticity to their cask strength bottlings, Signatory always include the cask numbers, date of distillation, date of bottling and number of bottles produced.Signatory Vintage’s aim is to offer as wide a range of whiskies as possible, some of which are not even bottled by the proprietary distillery. This allows malt enthusiast to sample the huge variety of subtle differences which occur between casks.

Highland Park remains the most northerly whisky distillery in Scotland, although not by much, as it is little more than a stone’s throw from fellow Orcadian, Scapa. Accounts of the distillery’s genesis vary, and the truth is probably lost to the mists of time, but it is thought that a local farmer named David Robertson founded what we now know as Highland Park distillery in 1798, on the site of an illicit still operated by nefarious smuggler (and former priest) Magnus Eunson. Since its introduction as a single malt in the late 1970s, the distillery has been awarded many plaudits, not least of which came from the late, great whisky writer Michael Jackson, who called it “the greatest all rounder in the world of whisky”. It’s characteristic style coming from the use of Sherry casks, along with an often cited heathery sweetness imparted to the spirit by way of the distinct Orcadian peat used during the malting process.

This single malt whisky was distilled in 2005 at the Highland Park distillery in the Scottish Speyside whisky region. It was matured solely in a 1st fill Bourbon Barrel and in 2023 was bottled at 54.9% alc/vol as part of the Signatory Vintage cask strength range. This whisky has no added colouring and was limited to 576 bottles.

Our Tasting Notes

Nose: Dried fruits and bold sherry notes, summer berries and soft heather notes with sweet spice.

Palate: Rich and full, black cherries and summer berries, sultanas, raisins and dates, caramel and honey sweetness with a hint of smoke and balanced oak.

Finish: Long and satisfying, soft smoke and Christmas Cake fruits, with floral notes of heather and sweet spice.