If you were to ask me to name my 5 top independent bottlers of Scotch whisky at any point in the last decade, Signatory Vintage would have made that list every single time.

An independent bottling, or IB, is a whisky bottled by someone other than the distillery. When a distillery bottles its own whisky, we call that an Official Bottling, or OB. There are hundreds of independent bottlers of Scotch whisky today, but 36 years after its founding, Signatory remains one of the best.

Signatory Vintage was founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington. The former had previously managed the iconic 5-star Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh, where he developed a taste for single cask, single malt Scotch whisky. They named their firm Signatory because the original vision was to have a celebrity signature on each bottling.

Attracting celebrity signatures proved impractical, and the first bottling, a sherried 1968 Glenlivet, sold out before a signatory could be found… but the brand name stuck.

1988 was good time to be buying casks of Scotch whisky, as the industry – which boomed in the 1960s and 1970s – went bust by the early-to-mid 1980s. The cask trade was a buyer’s market, and the Symington’s firm quickly established itself as a respected independent bottler. By 1992, Signatory was doing a brisk enough business to justify moving to a larger facility with its own bottling hall, and in 1997 Andrew bought his brother out of the business.

Most independent bottlers, especially in the decade, have operated hand to mouth, often bottling whatever they can get a hold of.

The best independent bottlers, like Signatory, purchase stocks with an eye to the future, often buying large parcels rather than single casks. Some of these casks might be ready to bottle sooner than others, some might be sold or traded with other firms, but the rest would be laid down to continue maturing. This strategy, with the right supervision, means that companies can bottle that parcel of casks over a decade or more, ideally releasing each cask when it whisky is at its best. Signatory has held on to some its casks for more than three decades, a feat only a handful of other independent bottlers can claim.

In 2002 Signatory purchased the picturesque Edradour Distillery in the hills above the Highland tourist town of Pitlochry. The distillery was Scotland’s smallest at the time, with a middling reputation for quality. However, in the 22 years that Andrew Symington has been running the distillery, he has completely turned it around, and today the whisky enjoys a well earned and loyal following. The distillery also gave Symington the land on which to build warehousing to store the stocks for both the distillery and his growing IB business.

The two things I love most about Signatory whiskies are the consistency of their bottlings and the price. The strategy of buying parcels of stock and bottling the casks at their best has always given me a lot of confidence as a retailer when it came to purchasing. I knew the new bottlings of Benrinnes 1996, Bunnahabhain 1989, or Clynelish 1995 were going to be good, because the sister casks, from the same parcel had been excellent. And in an environment where whisky pricing has been growing at unsustainable rates in recent years, Signatory continues to offer excellent value.

Signatory whiskies can be found at the best whisky retailers around the world. Their Cask Strength Collection whiskies never disappoint, and there are some special (and pricey) Rare Reserve bottlings of ancient malts released to mark their 35th anniversary. For every day, value conscious drinkers, Signatory released a new 100 (British) Proof (57.1.%) range in the last year, which marries exceptional quality and affordable prices.

There are still no celebrity signatures on the label however…

Story by Andrew Ferguson
www.kensingtonwinemarket.com