Tasting a wee dram of the Glenturret by Signatory vintage for their 30th Anniversary Cask: 532 52.4%
Signatory is a well-known and highly anticipated leading independent bottler of Scotch whiskies. Signatory was established in1988 by brothers Brian and Andrew Symington.##
To celebrate their 30th anniversary, they are about to release some top notch drams over the coming months! This means they must have been saving up some very choice casks just for this purpose.
Glenturret is actually Scotland’s oldest still active distillery! A bold claim, based on the history of the premises and older buildings around the current site. Glenturret used to be called Hosh Distillery, but the name was changed in 1875. It is said that under the original name, it can be traced back to 1775 even. Apart from poking fun at these bold claims (almost every distillery tries to stake a claim at being the oldest), let’s get to the more serious stuff.
I feel incredibly lucky to be able to taste this Glenturret, kindly gifted to me by Mr. Werner Bos, who is doing great things at Van Wees spirit specialists. Thank you Sir!
Glenturret is well-known for the fruitiness in their drams, like oranges and spices. What’s not to love, right? Sadly, it also has the reputation of having cardboard and soap elements. However, the guys from Signatory have truly mastered their trade, selecting an exceptional cask and maintaining very high standards. Let’s see if this baby is a yea or nay:
Nose:
A fresh touch on the nose in the likes of orange peel and zest. Marmalade on scones and fresh rosehip, or even a funky maraschino cherry. The baked goods of the aforementioned scones also start to reveal some toasted notes, or maybe almonds? All of this under a blanket of warm lingering spices, that raise this lovely dram to the next level.
Taste:
More creamy in the taste than the nose, hazelnuts… I love hazelnuts that much. Tones of fresh-cut grass, and of course all of this combined with the oranges and marmalade that were hinted at in the nose. Lads, to be honest, there isn’t even a trace of soap or cardboard to be found. Just plain excellence!
Finish:
A medium-long finish with hints of cream, and this is where the rosehip comes back. It has more of those nutty flavours of hazel… more like hazel wood.
Balance and complexity:
A well-balanced dram in both nose and taste. In terms of complexity: to have rosehips and maraschino cherry vying for attention without becoming overpowering, is a job well done!
Comments:
Truly a good dram. You don’t get to taste a decent ‘turret very often. I’d even petition them to make more Glenturrets like these, and change the name back to Hosh to signal it’s the good stuff. This is truly a hidden gem. After tasting this lovely Glenturret I’m curious about all their coming releases if they maintain this quality.
89/100 points in my book
Blog by Nils van Rijn
