Signatory Vintage Strathmill 12yo
Signatory Cask Strength Nabisco Decanter | 55% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
Coloring outside the lines is a healthy habit
Playing the back nine with eyes open.
Change has been a part of my life, and I tend to embrace it.
Many around me eschew change and shun it as some sort of plague; they bristle at the thought. While at times a bit nerve-wracking and stress-inducing, change brings refreshing new perspectives, new challenges, and new horizons to explore. And so, as I type this piece, it so happens that Mr. and Mrs. Shaw are effectuating a life change.
No doubt that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Along with you all, I was following the travails of our amazing Doog and his better half who uprooted themselves and traversed the width of Scotland to put down stakes on Skye. At the same time I was reading the tales of the family Crystal, details were being ironed out here for the Shaws to move south from Connecticut to North Carolina, some 625 miles away. In addition to looking forward to reading the new reviews posted by Dougie – not only because he has an amazing way with words and his reviews always seem to resonate – I soaked them in with much interest as I knew my fate was also going to follow a similar track that he had already experienced – taking steps to sell one’s house, fretting about securing a new residence, figuring logistics on how we move our “stuff” (ode to George Carlin here), and having that nervous but excited energy about ending up in a place where we will be starting anew.
To use the Scottish phrase, I am absolutely chuffed that the Crystals followed their dreams and have successfully transplanted themselves to a place where their hearts are happy and souls content. And now, the Shaws are making their own trek and hoping for similar results. Clearly, there must be something in the water cooler at the Dramface writers’ office.
If I had to guess, I think that Doog and I have had similar epiphanies, though they may have come from different genesis points, and we also may describe them a bit differently. Tomorrow is not promised to us, and waiting for something good to happen isn’t the route for success. Hope, as they say, is not a plan. Nothing changes unless you take steps to make a change. We have always wanted to move south, and, in addition, it was time to move from the better part of three decades of managing administrative chores and responsibilities of owning my own business.
Being in our mid-fifties, we want to take steps to enjoy new things. As is said, Father Time is undefeated. I don’t want to be sitting on the bench waiting to get in the game when my time is up. Frank, a dear friend of mine, roughly twenty years my senior, used to say he needed to get out and do things, because he was “playing the back nine.” I am now playing the back nine, and having never forgotten Frank’s pearls of wisdom, it was time for Ogilvie to act on it. And so, after my father passed last year, we made a point to, once again, actively place our hands on the wheel of our ship and steer it to a new destination.
After opening eyes and broadening our vision, an opportunity presented itself roughly two months ago. After a good bit of back and forth, the course was to untether ourselves from the Connecticut docks and head out into new waters. The new job was accepted in late September, and our hair has been figuratively on fire since… getting the house in shape, wrapping up cases and my office, working logistics on moves, etc. All has been a bit of anxious excitement, and as I sit and type this, our move from our home will occur four weeks from now.
New horizons. Looking to explore and experience new things. I am looking forward to the new chapters with new scenery, new people, and new perspectives.
This particular weekend evening, we are tired after a long day getting things ready for the move. I have cleaned the brushes and rollers used to paint our guest bathroom, and my better half has put the boxes and packing tape away. We give a collective exhale. I had made butternut squash soup earlier in the day, and we both take hearty portions along with a fresh loaf of sourdough bread out to the back deck. We are tired, but happy. The hues in the sky reflecting off of the clouds are mesmerizing and we start to talk about what our new house will look like and the excitement of new beginnings. It is then that I remember a purchase made for just this moment.
To that end, I haul my creaking bones and joints back into the house and to the whisky cabinet. I had found a special whisky to match our new adventure to come. As with the need and desire to act upon our newly charted course, the time is now to retrieve and open this bottle.
Review
Strathmill 12 year old, Signatory Vintage, Cask Strength, 55% ABV
$80 USD (£65) Paid
Matured in first use hogsheads. Distilled July 2, 2009 and bottled September 6, 2021. One of an outturn of 269 bottles. Cask no.’s 805076 and 805077.
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
Coloring outside the lines is a healthy habit
Nose
Heather and apples. Light and easy. Hay in a barn’s loft. Vanilla custard. Quiet. Hint of pears.
Adding some water brings out some grapes and a certain petrichor sensation. Tart apple juice.
Palate
Taking this neat, I appreciate the initial hit on the palate. Not viscous but initially luscious, if that makes any sense. At first, light nuttiness and cloves and the vanilla custard from the nose. Nutmeg and allspice. Spices build through the mid-palate and continue through a long, peppery finish. The finish has herbal hints and crisp Granny Smith apples, but the peppery spices take the majority of attention. Not a busy, multi-layered experience. Not linear, but not complex. Regardless, while the overall light flavor profile is not usually my lane, I am enjoying it. The peppery finish continues on my tongue and in my cheeks for good, long while.
Trying this with water, it is a different animal. The initial luscious taste is more of a rounder, smoother sensation which ebbs into a somewhat tart fruit. Mid palate there are some spices, but they are muted. Petrichor sensations translate onto the palate. Outdoors after a rain with wood noticeable. The vanilla custard comes forth, but is calm. The finish is quieter, but still lasts.
The Dregs
I picked up this Strahmill for a few reasons. First, I appreciate independent bottlers such as Signatory who provide consistently good offerings. That said, there is nothing on the bottle stating this is non-chill filtered and natural color. I am relying on the Signatory name for a quality, all natural whisky.
I have lingering concerns, however, as after examining the Signatory website, I note there are three different categories of whiskies: 86 Proof Collection, Cask Strength Collection, and Un-Chillfiltered Collection. My bottle is labelled as cask strength, but otherwise no indication of colour or filtration. Am I naive to rely on a cask strength bottling from Signatory to be an all natural presentation? Well, I am going along with my thoughts that this is natural colour and un-chillfiltered.
Next, I had never had Strathmill in my glass. As a whisky geek, I do carry around the Malt Whisky Yearbook. When I looked at the background of Strathmill, there was not much that would ordinarily have moved the needle in a positive direction for me. Not only is this a Diageo-owned distillery (that shouldn’t put me off, per se, as memories of my last Benrinnes, Clynelish, and Linkwood experiences remind me that their stable of distilleries can and do make good whisky), but in reading about the Strathmill style, it is known as a lighter spirit.
As the Malt Whisky Yearbook says: “Strathmill is one of few distilleries still using purifiers on the spirit stills. This device is mounted between the lyne arm and the condenser and acts as a mini-condenser allowing the lighter alcohols to travel towards the condenser and forcing the heavier alcohols to go back into the still for another distillation.” As a fan of drams with funk, and drams that are heavier, oily, and meaty, this purchase of a Strathmill was something that took some time and thought.
In the end, it was that second reason, upon reflection, that made me reach for this bottle. It would be a mirror, somewhat, to compliment our move. Trying new things, searching out new experiences. I hadn’t ever had Strathmill, and I needed to challenge myself to be sure I don’t just sit in one lane of whisky. I could have searched the shelves for another Loch Lomond, Bruichladdich, or Craigellachie as I know they would satisfy my palate, but I will reach for them at another time.
As I looked at the shelves at the liquor store, I knew I needed to continue my flavour chase – and that always means looking at the entire field and not just “the favourites.” In doing so, an additional bonus was having a Signatory cask strength offering at my fingertips. Getting to experience a new (to me) distillery is easier and better if I am able to sample it as naturally and as close to direct-from-the-barrel as possible. Let the distillery’s true character speak to me. If I am going to broaden my whisky horizon, this is a good way to do so.
This Strathmill is enjoyable. It is not an everyday dram for me, but that contrast between the initial rounded and luscious feel at first sip and the building and ever-lasting peppery finish is unique, interesting, and gratifying. The score here is, perhaps, indicative of my palate and not necessarily the quality of the liquid. For me, this is a high 6/10. However, I can see that someone who fully appreciates lighter, more quiet whiskies would score this a 7/10. This whisky is not my usual, and I have been enjoying the trek as I wrap my head around it. Despite its long peppery finish, it is a subtle and gentle whisky that is nice to sip in a similarly quiet setting.
I am glad that I have had this bottle and will continue to be whisky curious. Here’s to being a Dramface Magellan.
Whether you are playing the back nine or not, and whether it be life or your whisky journey, I hope you place your hand upon the wheel and chart your own course to broader horizons.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS
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