Signatory Vintage Archives

Auchroisk / Tormore / Benrinnes / Ardmore Signatory

15th October 202514th October 2025Coldorak

Last Wednesday, two friends and I hosted a second sherried whiskies session at Rennes Whisky Club, this time featuring three bottlings from Signatory Vintage’s 100 proof series: Tormore, Benrinnes, and Ardmore. After the tasting, I realised I had overlooked an Auchroisk from the same range—one I forgot about when I put together my earlier review of three indy Auchroisks. I decided to bring it along, turning the evening into a lineup of four Auchroisk, Tormore, Benrinnes and Ardmore Signatory 100 proof whiskies.

Three Independent Secret Orkney

13th October 202512th October 2025Coldorak

We return to Orkney with a review of three Independent Secret Orkney bottlings. As a reminder, Orkney only has two whisky distilleries: Highland Park and Scapa. None of these bottlings should be from Scapa, so you can easily guess their origin. By the way, I plan to review Scapa’s new core range soon, so stay tuned for that. We will examine today’s whiskies in ascending order of ABV, starting immediately with a relatively high proof, as the lowest ABV (57.1%!) in this selection is the Signatory 100 Proof bottling.

Two Glenlivet 2007 Signatory Vintage

10th October 20259th October 2025Coldorak

Glenlivet has appeared only once on More Drams Less Drama (by itself). The official 12-year-old, bottled at 40% and chill-filtered, earned a forgettable 4/10 rating, whilst a 25-year-old Speyside #4 from That Boutique-y Whisky Company demonstrated that the distillery performs considerably better when not overly diluted. Today’s pair might reinforce that observation with two Glenlivet 2007 bottled by Signatory Vintage, both bottled at cask strength and offering a glimpse of what Glenlivet can achieve when left unmolested at high proof.

Glendullan 2011 James Eadie / 2012 Signatory Vintage

27th June 202526th June 2025Coldorak

I really started my whisky journey, seriously going on the road towards empty wallets and overcrowded whisky shelves, back in 2018. A late start compared to many, but since then I’ve tried to discover as much as I could, try whisky from everywhere. I’ve now tried close to 2,600 different whiskies, and obviously, despite this number looking gigantic to some, and small to others, there are many things I have never tried (and maybe never will). But this also means that there is still a lot for me to discover, to try for the first time, being old or new whisky. After all, more than 260,000 whiskies are listed on Whiskybase, so with just 1% of those tried until now, I’ve barely scrapped the surface. And today, I can tick another checkbox with what seems to be my first ever two Glendullan whiskies. As it is one of the distilleries behind Diageo’s brand ’’’The Singleton’, I’m quite surprised I had never tried any before if I trust my whisky sheet and my Whiskybase account, but well, there’s a start for everything, including large distilleries! But today, no Singleton: we’ll review two independent bottlings: the Glendullan 2011 James Eadie and 2012 Signatory Vintage.

Glenrothes, Glentauchers & Caol Ila 100 Proof Signatory Vintage

Glentauchers, Glenrothes and Caol Ila 100 Proof Signatory Vintage

26th March 202525th March 2025Coldorak

In the UK, “100 proof” signifies a spirit with 57.15% alcohol by volume, often rounded to 57.1% ABV. It also names an extensive, affordable series by independent bottler Signatory Vintage, with over 30 releases filled at 57.1% ABV (some of them being ‘Exceptional Casks‘). We are examining three early releases in this series: the Glentauchers, Glenrothes, and Caol Ila 100 Proof Signatory Vintage, specifically numbers 6, 8, and 10.

Signatory 100 Proof Exceptional Cask #1, #2 and #3

Aultmore / Glenburgie / Macduff 100 Proof Exceptional Casks Signatory Vintage

28th November 202427th November 2024Coldorak

Part of the recent and ever-growing series 100 proof from Signatory Vintage, the independent bottler released a few bottlings as an ‘Exceptional Cask’ subseries. We review the first three whiskies bottled in this series: an Aultmore 2007, a Glenburgie 2008 and a Macduff 2007 100 Proof Exceptional Casks, Edition #1 to 3, from Signatory Vintage.

Springbank 1969 Signatory Vintage Rare Reserve

Springbank 30yo & 1969 Signatory

20th February 202320th February 2023Coldorak

Recently, I celebrated my birthday and decided to indulge in some excellent whisky. To start my evening, I savoured my cherished Balblair 1979 OB before moving on to Springbank. Since I plan to visit Springbank for a few days in July, I want to be adequately prepared. Surprisingly, I haven’t yet reviewed any Springbank whisky on More Drams. Therefore, let’s begin with a bang: the 2022 release of the yearly Springbank 30-year-old. I will also compare it to a Springbank 1969 bottled by Signatory Vintage, which I could taste last year and fill a sample.

Glenury Royal 1978 Signatory Vintage

30th November 202230th November 2022Coldorak

People learnt a long time ago that drinking an alcoholic beverage was making them feel relaxed, good (unless they’re drinking too much!) and increased their mood. It’s no surprise then that when there’s a call for celebration, people use alcohol to celebrate. I know I do. And I’m not the only one, as alcohol has been used for celebrations and ceremonies for ages, as far back at least than ancient Babylon, around 5000 B.C. Clay tablets found in the ruins of ancient Babylon told about its inhabitants used to brew and drink beer as part of their religious ceremonies. Egyptians did too, and they’d make it by placing crumbled barley bread into jars filled of water, to allow the natural yeast to start fermentation. Fast forward a few thousand years, and we’re using all kinds of alcohols for celebrations. And when I learnt I had passed my Wine and Spirits Trust Education level 2 in spirits with distinction, the result I was looking for, I naturally turned to whisky to celebrate what I had really worked hard to achieve. Yes, tasting and learning about spirits and cocktails can be hard work. And to celebrate, I turned myself towards a whisky from a lost distillery I had never tried anything from before: a Glenury Royal 1978 bottled by Signatory Vintage.

Killyloch 1972 Signatory Vintage

13th November 202214th November 2022Coldorak

Whenever I go to a whisky bar, especially one with a very large menu of old releases, I need quite some time to identify what will be my next dram. I might jump on the occasion to try an old vintage of a favorite distillery. Or, like today, try something from a distillery I have never tried anything from. Especially since I’ve never heard of said distillery. But the good thing with this kind of whisky bar, is that not only they have a great list of whiskies, they also have very knowledgeable staff, who will be able to help you out. They’ll make recommendations, or tell you about the distillery’s profile, or give you some tasting notes and descriptions for this unknown whisky you’re looking out. And that’s how after the Glenfarclas 1971 I reviewed a few days ago, my second dram at the Golden Promise was this Killyloch 1972 bottled by Signatory Vintage.

Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage (1993)

11th June 2022Coldorak

A few days ago, as I was approaching quite a milestone for me in my whisky journey, I made a poll on Twitter asking what should be my 1000th dram. Amongst the propositions, I had this Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage and a Brora 1981, also from Signatory Vintage. With more than 60 votes and until the very last seconds, it was a ‘huge’ battle between the two, that ended in… a draw. Since I wasn’t going to do blend of the two as my 1000th different whisky tried, I decided for the Port Ellen to be the 999th whisky (because it had two nines in its vintage), whilst the Brora would be the 1000th whisky I’d try (and also because my first Brora was my 500th whisky, so let’s stay consistent). So here we are, with an old bottling from a closed distillery (for now, as it should reopen next year): a Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage (and from my vintage, thanks for the easy pun).