Glenburgie 1995-2014 - 19 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 6461

Glenburgie is a large Speyside distillery whose production of over 4m litres per year is almost entirely destined for the Ballantine’s blend. The distillery’s association with Ballantine’s goes back as far as the 1930s when Glenburgie was brought out of mothballs by new owner Hiram Walker. As well as its traditional pot-distilled whisky, Glenburgie made a separate spirit called Glencraig on a pair of Lomond stills from 1958-1981. Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) bought Glenburgie in 2005 following a major reconstruction during which the distillery was completely demolished and rebuilt. 

Official bottlings of Glenburgie have always been extremely rare due to its importance to Ballantine’s, although a handful of new official bottlings under the Ballantine’s brand have appeared since 2017. Gordon & MacPhail have been releasing licensed bottlings of Glenburgie since the 1980s and other independent bottlings (including some excellent Glencraigs) have become more frequent in recent years.

Signatory Vintage Whisky Company was founded by Andrew Symington in 1988 after a spell as assistant manager at the Prestonfield House Hotel, where he had the opportunity to buy a cask of Glenlivet 1968. A robust and canny businessman, Symington had soon acquired some outstanding parcels of casks from great distilleries, and quickly established a reputation among single malt fans for good value, high quality single casks, the majority of which were released at full strength.

Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Signatory released outstanding whisky from Ardbeg, Glenfarclas, Springbank and many more, with frequently remarkable examples of lost or obscure distilleries. Soon established as one of the leading new wave independent bottlers, Symington was also an early exponent of bottling whiskies without colouring or chill filtration, a policy that has also served Signatory well at their Edradour distillery, which was purchased in 2002.