Inverleven 27 years 1977 Signatory Vintage Cask n°3600 - One of 146 - bottled 2005 Cask Strength Collection (Brown)

The Inverleven distillery was part of the Dumbarton complex near Glasgow, in the Lowlands of Scotland, built by Hiram Walker in 1938 to produce grain whisky (Dumbarton) and malt whisky (Inverleven) for its flasghip blend Ballantine’‘s, of George Ballantine & Sons, which it bought in 1936. The distillery was equipped with two copper pot stills and a Lomond still installed in 1956—which was classed as a separate distillery named Lomond. Lomond ceased production in 1985 and Inverleven followed suit in 1991, before the entire Dumbarton complex was closed in 2002 and then demolished. Primarily used for blends, Inverleven is a rare whisky found only in a few independent bottlings and in the Deoch an Doras range from Chivas Brothers. The Lomond still was moved to Islay to the Bruichladdich distillery in 2005, where it is now used to the produced the gin The Botanist. The other stills live on in Mark Reynier’‘s new Waterford distillery in Ireland.

A single cask (#3600) from the Inverleven distillery, distilled in 1977, aged in a bourbon cask and bottled in 2005. 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 146 bottles.