Rare Ayrshire (Ladyburn) 1975-2012 - 36 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 3417

Ladyburn was one of the shortest-lived Scottish distilleries and its Lowland single malt whisky is now exceptionally rare, as almost the entirety of Ladyburn’s spirit was destined for owner William Grant’s blending vats. Grant’s had built the Girvan grain distillery in 1963 and added four pot stills for Ladyburn in 1966, but sadly the distillery was deemed a failure after less than a decade and production ceased in 1975. 

Official bottlings of Ladyburn are extremely difficult to find. A 12-year-old Ladyburn was bottled in the 1980s and in 2000 over a dozen 1973 single casks were released. The latter were widely assumed to be the last stock, but in 2014-15 several more official Ladyburns from 1973 and 1974 appeared. Some excellent long-aged Ladyburns have been bottled as ‘Ayrshire’ by Signatory and Duncan Taylor - these are the best value at auction for anyone hunting for this unicorn whisky.

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.