Glenugie 1980-1997 - 16 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 3660 - Miniature

Glenugie distillery closed in 1983 and is one of the most-lamented of the lost Highland distilleries. Originally founded in 1831 as Invernettie, the distillery had a chequered past before being taken over and modernised in the 1950s and ‘60s by Schenley / Long John Distillers. Glenugie spent its active life in the shadows, with the first bottlings from Cadenhead’s and Gordon & MacPhail appearing around the end of the 1970s, just a few years before the distillery closed for good.

Glenugie was rarely bottled as a single malt, but the casks that survived have almost all been outstanding. Now owned by Pernod Ricard, at the time of writing only three official Glenugies have ever been released, the first of which appeared in 2010. Independent bottlings of Glenugie, the best examples of which are from Signatory Vintage, Cadenhead’s, The Bottlers, Douglas Laing, Gordon & MacPhail and Sestante command a premium at auction due to their scarcity and exceptionally high quality.

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.