Cuvée presentation
A single cask (#06-143-3) of Benriach (peated) distilled in 1994, matured in a Sauternes cask and bottled in 2006. Signatory Vintage's founder Andrew Symington first joined the whisky industry when he began selecting casks for Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. In 1988, the adventure continued when he founded Signatory Vintage, investing in a small bottling chain set up in his warehouses in Edinburgh. He began releasing editions bottled at cask strength without chillfiltration or colouring, practices that were still rare in the late 1980s. The legendary series of “Dumpy bottles” notably included information previously seldom seen on labels, such as the cask number, cask type and number of bottles. The bottle number was also written by hand. Signatory Vintage developed a strong reputation by selling not only iconic whiskies from well-known distilleries (Springbank, Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Bowmore) but also bottlings from very rare distilleries such as Ben Wyvis, Glen Flagler and Killyloch, and of course the many versions distilled in the Lomond stills of Miltonduff (Mosstowie), Glen Keith (Craigduff, Glenisla) and Glenburgie (Glencraig). Finally, in 2002, Andrew Symington bought the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry, in the Highlands of Scotland. Signatory Vintage was moved to the site, along with its warehouses, which face the distillery. A limited edition of 323 bottles.
The distillery Benriach
Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owner: Brown Forman
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Benriach is a distillery that has reopened on more than one occasion. The first was in 1898 at the initiative of John Duff, who built the distillery before, just ten years later, being forced to close it down following the Pattison Crash. The second was in 1965 at the instigation of Glenlivet Distilleries Ltd (the future Chivas Bothers), who completely rebuilt the distillery in order to produce a “blender's malt”. Finally, in 29 April 2004, the distillery came into the hands of Billy Walker and his South-African partners and began operating again in September of the same year. In the meantime, only a few independent bottlers, including Gordon & MacPhail, released expressions of the Benriach malt. When it comes to in-house expressions, a 10 year old version was released by the Seagram Group in 1994. Despite its 120 years of history, Benriach is a distillery only now coming to the foreground of collectable whiskies, and connoisseurs are no longer under any allusions as to its worth. The now-frequent single cask vintages are immediately seized upon as soon as they released.
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