Signatory – Ledaig 2008

It’s great to have indie bottlers out there doing interesting things with whisky. Signatory wasn’t one that I had heard of before, but on a trip to Grape and Grind, I was looking for an interesting take on whisky that I already knew. I think that gives you the opportunity to get a good read on a bottler. So, after having a few drams with RealDramSi a couple of weeks ago and not being overly impressed, I come back to it tonight. I am drinking it, whilst listening to the football and drinking it from a straight, heavy bottomed glass.

Aroma: Light Smoke, Medicinal, Crispy Bacon, Creosote

Taste: For a whisky that smells so ashy, dark and thick, the first flavours are oddly smooth and sweet. Expectation is everything and each time you lift the glass to the mouth, you are greeted with all the usual aromas that you expect from an island whisky. However the flavour you get instead is of a floral honey. This sweetness is only brief and does give way to the brash, spiky smoke that your mouth is expecting.

This smoke, is bitter and acidic, it spreads across the mouth and sits on the tongue darkly brooding. It reminds me of stepping from the damp, cold of autumnal rain and in to a filled pub, warmed by an open fire. The smoke is tingly to the tongue and moves backward and down the throat. This spreads and warms. There are notes of smoked fish, spice of white pepper and sweetness of nutmeg.

This final flavour sits, and stays for the long run. Like a sit in protest in your mouth, these flavours remain and in their lack of strength they are more slight, but oddly more pleasant. Its a long lasting flavour, that feels indicative of what could have been.

Mouthfeel: Sweet, tingly and smoked.

Overall: This whisky doesn’t taste that young, but it is feisty and uncompromising. It has a lot of similarities to the Ten Year, but without some of the nuance that is present there. I like it, but I am not mad for it. It makes me wish that I had the Ledaig 18 to review instead. That said at its price point, it is a good solid Island whisky.

Aroma: 14

Start: 14

Middle: 13

Finish: 15

Value: 15

Overall: 71/100

Available: Royal Mile Whiskies

More Information: Signatory Bottlers