Royal Brackla 1979-1997 - 18 Year Old - Signatory Vintage - Single Cask 10113

Royal Brackla is a large but still relatively obscure old Highland distillery and has been owned by Bacardi since 1998 when the latter bought the Dewar’s group from Diageo. Brackla had been somewhat lost in Diageo’s portfolio, but under Bacardi, the distillery was revitalized and a new range of official bottlings finally appeared in 2015. The distillery’s Royal Warrant was bestowed by King William IV in 1835, the first to be awarded to a Scotch whisky distillery.

Independent bottlings of Royal Brackla are more common nowadays than they used to be, but are generally relatively young casks, although more respectably aged releases have appeared from Gordon & MacPhail and the SMWS. The distillery itself also now bottles occasional long-aged limited editions as the Exceptional Casks series.

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.