Glendronach 1987-1997 - 9 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 57 - Miniature

Glendronach is one of the most prominent and important distilleries in Scotland’s Highlands. The distillery was founded in the 1920s but came to wider attention in the 1960s after being taken over by Teacher’s, for which it was to become a key malt. After a low period under the notoriously careless Allied Distillers, Glendronach was revived under Billy Walker, whose Benriach Distillery Co. bought the distillery in 2008.

Walker turned around Glendronach’s fortunes by the simple expedient of great cask selection, a high quality core range and prestige bottlings of vintage sherry casks, which were already plentiful in the distillery’s inventory. This good work has continued since Walker sold the distillery to Brown Forman in 2016. At auction, 1970s sherry casks and old Teacher’s-era Glendronach bottlings are always worth seeking out, although prices now reflect the distillery’s popularity.

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.