Caledonian 32 years 1987 Signatory Vintage Cask n°23482 - One of 204 - bottled 2020 Cask Strength Collection (Brown)

Caledonian was a grain distillery built in Edinburgh in 1855 by Graham Menzies & Co. At the time, it was the largest distillery in operation and one of many grain distilleries to open during the period. This boom led to an overproduction crisis, in response to which six distilleries decided to divide up the market between them, with the largest share going to Caledonian. It operated just one large column still and, between 1867 and 1900, stills for producing an “Irish-style” grain whisky for blenders. In 1884, the distillery was one of the founding members of Distillers Company Limited (DCL), with Graham Menzies’ son William becoming its second director in 1897. Caledonian was transferred to Scottish Grain Distillers in 1966 but ultimately closed in 1988, a few years after DCL merged with Guinness to form United Distillers, consolidating their portfolios in the process. With the exception of a handful of rare official bottlings, Caledonian is most commonly found among independent bottlers.

A single cask (#23482) Caledonian distilled in 1987, aged in a hogshead and bottled in 2020 by Signatory Vintage. The founder of Signatory Vintage, Andrew Symington, began working in whisky by selecting casks for the Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. He subsequently founded Signatory Vintage in 1988, where he invested in a small bottling chain within his cellars in Edinburgh. He started bottling at cask strength without cold filtering or colouring, which was uncommon for the late 1980s. The legendary Dumpy Bottle series listed information that up until that point had never been shared by bottlers, such as the cask number and the type of cask. The number of bottles was also included, written by hand. Signatory Vintage carved a reputation for themselves by not only selling legendary whiskies from iconic distilleries like Springbank, Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Bowmore, but also by bottling whiskies from extremely rare distilleries like Ben Wyvis, Glen Flagler and Killyloch. Additionally, they also bottled numerous versions distilled in Lomond stills from Miltonduff (Mosstowie), Glen Keith (Craigduff, Glenisla) and Glenburgie (Glencraig). In 2002 Symington acquired the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry in the Highlands. He relocated Signatory Vintage and installed the cellars across from the distillery. A limited edition of 204 bottles.