Clynelish 1974 Signatory Dumpy [Review #1000!]

Hi everyone,

Here we are, the big four digits at last!

It has been a long road but I can’t say it’s been a hard one. I still love tasting whisky, making notes and sharing my thoughts. What is there more to say than that?

 

This was the other whisky I tasted in Feathers Pub in Toronto. I knew to taste this because u/TOModera had done notes on this one and said that he thought it was a Brora. I planned to taste the Lord of the Isles Ardbeg after this but decided not to. I’d found what I was looking for.

Clynelish 1974 Signatory Dumpy 55.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Immediately stunning. A shit tonne of amazing complexity, balance and power! Oils for days, waxy with pine smoke, Lapsang Souchong, burnt wood, lemon sherbet, a little BBQ pit. Liquorice and an incredibly good medicinal edge that cuts through, white pepper, bandages, nice chilli heat, some white florals coming in now with minerality. More calpol and earthy notes coming through after a bit. Could literally just sit here and smell it for hours.

Water: Darker, brooding and more earthy, burnt florals, singed heather, leather and dark chocolate.

Taste: Clean arrival, pure lemon, some oak, white pepper then kicks up several notches into transendant territory with big medicinal peat perfectly balanced by the clean lemon and minerals. So damn good. Ridiculously oily and satisfying. Super drinkable.

Water: Softer and rounder and darker. More malty, more oily and waxy, so balanced it almost hurts!, incredible mouthfeel, not as dry, heather. Still powerful. Pine smoke.

Finish: Long length. Arrrgh! Fucking hell its amazing! Really makes the dram. Quite dry with white pepper and minerality, late earthy note but clean finish. Earthy leather and some malt.

Bottled 2001 at 27yo. No WAY this was distilled at Clynelish! A freight train of a whisky with everything I look for. Really sings!

My scoring has been brought up again and again by folks that don’t quite understand my harsher lower scores. But when you come across really, really good whisky you just know it, you can’t help it. Truly exceptional whisky hits you in the face and goes to something right at the core of you.

93/100

A big thank you to everyone that reads these reviews! I started on Reddit and I still love the amazing community that we’ve created here. Being in the whisky industry has allowed my to try some amazing stuff and, though it sometimes comes with complications, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I still remember a time, not long ago at all, when I was little more than tour guide that enjoyed whisky and wanted to try more. I would never have dreamed that I would taste 1000 whiskies, let alone the ones that I have. I feel extremely lucky every single day.

Cheers!

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #835

Whisky Network Review #1000

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Ledaig x4: Wilson Morgon, LMDW, Signatory & Douglas Laing Showdown

Hi everyone,

I recently wrote an article on why I love Ledaig so much, so you can head over there for more background on how obsessed I am.

I’ve reviewed a bunch of Ledaig already but I realised I hadn’t posted many from my own collection, so here are some of the Sherried ones. Four Ledaigs, each more Ledaig than the last!

Ledaig 2005 Wilson & Morgan 48.5%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Lots of butter on this one. Strikes a good balance between the oily/natural Ledaig and the meaty/Sherry Ledaig. Cherry pie, lemon and orange, malty smoke, sea salt, quite Laga 16 like actually with the light Sherry and smoke.

Water: Fresher with more of the citrus elements now, orange and lemon, grist, clean smoke, still oily though. Grapefruit after a minute, chalky.

Taste: Soft and oily, buttery natural Ledaig, not much of the Sherry but some orange and lemon citrus, some leather, malty smoke, some drier oak then into the finish. The Butter-y-ness really takes me back to the first time I tried Ledaig… (back in review #87!) mmmmm, delicious memories.

Water: Softer with a better balance, particularly in the development and finish. Fresher and maltier with more of the citrus at first then more earthy into the finish. The peat starts coming out a little more after a bit more time with more power.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Goes a little out of balance with some rubber, lemon and black pepper.

A vatting of 6 Sherry finished casks bottled in 2015. A drop of water really brings this one together, as I suspected it might on first tasting it.

78/100

Ledaig 2004 Artist #5 60.4%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Ethereal and quite closed at first, think this will take some time to oxidise. You get a sense of the sweetness and smoke. Starts to open up after 10+ mins with BIG Glendro-esque sherry, flinty, leather, overbrewed tea, cherry stones. Coming back to it after half the bottle I'm getting diving gear after a dive, sea soaked neoprene wetsuit, wet leather and coal. Complex, and quite different to most Ledaigs I’ve tried.

Water: Frustratingly closed for me! Cherry syrup? Wet hay? Hot coals? More straightforward sweetness, orange.

Taste: Soft actually, builds though. Potent stuff this. Sweet, big sweetness, cherry, very rich, intense toffee, leather, some dry oak backs it up. All about slow power. When that recedes, you then get some of the Ledaig peppery meaty smoke. Dirty, sooty, wet hay, wet rocks, salty. Coming back after half the bottle, there's a lot more of the smoke now, with lots of wet hay, a little Brora-like barnyard, fields and cowpat and heavy sweetness.

Water: Softer, more Ledaig-like with peppery spices, black pepper, some meatiness, hot coals, soot, gristy smoke, gritty, mineral with crushed slate maybe? Very oily with the water actually, really clings to the mouth.

Finish: Long length. More dirty, sooty smoke, kiln, engine and mouth watering oils. After time in the bottle there's more of the barnyard with cow shit... Um, in a good way.

Cask 900179, distilled 2004, bottled 2015 at 10yo. I was disappointed with this at first tasting (probably would have scored it in the low 80’s) as it’s more Sherry than Ledaig but there's more Brora elements after some time in the bottle, which, of course, is brilliant. Water doesn’t improve it despite the strength.

87/100

Ledaig 2005 Signatory Cask Strength 58%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: OhmyfuckinggodLedaigissogoddamngood! Sweet, smoky, meaty, peppery and complex. It's got that venison thing I found in 900161, sweet Oloroso soaked raisins and nuts, nice touch of leather, lifting icing sugar and fresh orange citrus. A little wood polish, vanilla and lovely dark chocolate notes develop. After a little bit you get some of the farmy ledaig notes, wet hay and straw, earthy. Gorgeous nose.

Water: A fascinating and rather lovely combination of dark and light. Dark chocolate and fresh coffee, more of the lifting orange peel and fresh juice than before. Cinnamon comes through too. Actually, it gets sweeter and sweeter with more time- Orange juice, orange chewing gum.

Taste: Intense, powerful. Peppery and spicy to start, lots of cracked black pepper, ginger, a little cinnamon develops then green peppercorns, complex meaty, Sherry, nuts, walnut, leather, more meaty venison, then plum and peppery meat. There is a bit of lifting pomegranate mid-palate but it's a bit swamped by the spices.

Water: Softer and less spicy, more balance, more orange. Black pepper, pastrami, chilli chocolate.

Finish: Long length. Oily and mouth coating, sooty and slightly dirty with sweetness then spiciness.

Cask 900160, 1st Fill Sherry Butt. Distilled 08/11/2005, bottled 22/11/2016 at 11yo. A real tour de force of everything I love about Ledaig. Power, complexity and balance.

86/100

Ledaig 1997 Old Particular 48.1%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: A slightly sulphury one. That Sherried meaty Ledaig with cheap bacon, outdoor BBQ smoke, raw steak, raw venison, pulled pork in BBQ sauce. Not a dram for vegetarians. Alongside it is a big malty and gristy smokiness, some golden raisins, orange, rubber and leather, dark chocolate, some sweeter syrupy fruit in a crumble, Weetabix and a touch of peppery oak. It IS a little feinty with this chemical chlorine thing, but it pulls it off. Just.

Taste: Thin arrival, not much developing then a big spiciness comes in with an explosion of black pepper and a kind of sulphury meatiness, that raw venison note, then darker notes of rubber, leather, dark fruity with raisin, fig, some date, 85% dark chocolate and then softens again into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Some sweetness from the sherry fights it off with the dying smoke. A little harsh peppery note.

I can totally understand why people don't like this, and it's not exactly balanced but it's my type of dram. Loads of complexity to the nose, bit spicy on the taste but the finish lets it down. As the level has been going down in the bottle it’s been getting softer and softer.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #586-#589

Whisky Network Reviews #691-#694

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 93

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Caol Ila Cask Strength & 1991 Signatory Reviews (Bottled 2007)

Hi everyone,

Back in my favourite whisky bar in Chamonix, France (it’s the only whisky bar in Chamonix, France) I thought I’d have a crack at that rare 1970 Bruichladdich up on the top shelf. But then I remembered that I brought my wife and she wouldn’t let me blow 50 euros on one shot of whisky. (it was a double! Come on.)

So the cheap stuff it was for me. Luckily they had some other really interesting stuff and I ended up trying these Caol Ila’s, only realising afterwards that they were released the same year.

Caol Ila 1991 Signatory 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Quite light on the smoke, more maritime and oily, and pretty complex, quite savoury tobacco, wet leather, beach campfire, some cigar smoke, neoprene wetsuit. Then a little fresh melon with time. Smells much older than its 16 years.

Taste: Soft start, lacking a bit of power then very salty with some sour lemon juice, green apple and smoky minerality, spices then coming in with some ginger and a little light pepper but not as complex as the nose suggested.

Finish: Medium/Long length. A little zesty with nice spice, paprika and lemon.

From Hogsheads, bottled back in 2007 at 16 years old. Great great nose, taste and finish don't follow up unfortunately.

76/100

 

Caol Ila Cask Strength 59.6%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Intense! Seriously smoky, creamy, medicinal and mineral. Elements of lots of Islay distilleries in here actually but Kilchoman comes to mind the most. Calpol cough syrup like some Laphroaig's, seashells.

Water: Ooo some meaty notes emerge, Gingseng tea, earthy, more ethereal though.

Taste: Soft start for the abv, then very very mineral like a big Kilchoman, salty and maritime, intensely smoky, slightly medicinal and creamy, oily lemon, some wool weirdly then more perfumed but still powerful smoke and lemon citrus. A little spicy with some ginger into the finish.

Water: Softer, more salty, then more spicy with ginger and hot white pepper which unbalances it.

Finish: Long length. Intense initially with mineral, lemon, some ginger snaps and a little white pepper.

No bottling code but Whiskybase tells me bottled 2007. Potent stuff with much more smoke than expected from a Caol Ila, not young either despite the NAS. And despite the strength, it doesn't improve with water I'd say. A great find at the back of the shelf.

79/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #571-#572

Whisky Network Reviews #676-#677

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 93

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Ardmore 1977-2000 Signatory Dumpy Review

Hi everyone,

Another old and rare whisky from Ardmore. I almost tasted this just to make my friend Tom jealous, because he’s a big fan of Ardmore. As actually, am I. Only this year I started to realise the quality this distillery has to offer. Then I kind of had to rave about it because I bought a barrel of the stuff.

So seeing this at the collector’s stand at a very reasonable price, I thought why not. Let’s see what the old stuff was like. Also these old Sigantory’s from the dumpy bottles have a pretty good reputation.

REMEMBER, Ardmore was direct firing their stills back then, with coal.

 

Ardmore 1977 Signatory Dumpy 58.1%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Different to the modern stuff as so much of the 1970’s stuff is. Not much peat, spicy, floral, a little soap, ginger, white pepper, malt, a little ash, porridge, chalky, quite austere though.

Taste: Intense, great arrival on lemon juice, oily, then classic Ardmorian buttery peat and smoke, hot ash, malt, oak, chalky, porridge, white pepper and great oily white truffle.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Oily, buttery, dry oak, austere, some black pepper. A little fizzy at the very end.

Bottled 2000, at 23yo. With water it loses the nose, and the taste is more fresh fruit with green apple. The white truffle note is very cool and unique, haven’t found that on anything else. The equal of the G&M Talisker I just reviewed.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #536

Whisky Network Review #631

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Caol Ila 2003 & 2007 Signatory UCF Reviews

Hi everyone,

Two Caol Ila's from me today, both exclusives from Belgium (the last ones I promise!).

Caol Ila is a hugely adaptable whisky. It can be good young, great old. Soft or smoky, medicinal or sweet, powerful or light.

 

Caol Ila 2003 Signatory 55.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: A very maritime Caol Ila. Almost fishy, coal smoke, low tide aromas, campfire, very spirit driven and all the better for it. Salt coated fish, baked sea bass. Sausage rolls and petrol with water.

Taste: Salty hit, very maritime, seaweed, then some sweetness with honey then more smoky and lovely mineral notes. Coal, iodine, oily. Some petrol with water, but thinner. Loses the mouth feel.

Finish: Medium length. Mineral then some more smoke.

Bottled 2015 for the Nectar. A great nose, taste doesn't quite follow up to it.

75/100

Caol Ila 2007 Signatory 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Immediately lighter, younger and fruitier. Estery, smoky pear, green apple, maritime, kelp.

Taste: Young esters and a bit thin, then lovely smoky maritime kelp and low tide stuff.

Finish: Medium length. Much better with white pepper then nice mineral smoke.

An exclusive for various whisky shops. A very nice finish on this one but noses young.

70/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #424-#425

Whisky Network Reviews #471-#472

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Edradour 2011 Marsala Hogshead Signatory UCF Review

Hi everyone,

Today I've got a whisky from Edradour. Signatory's small distillery doesn't have the best reputation but those that like their weird and whacky whisky, often love it.

I haven't had enough experience with Edradour to comment too much, only having had the 10yo and a single cask Ballechin.

Let's see about this one. It's been fully matured in a Marsala Hogshead for 6 years.

Edradour 2011 Signatory Marsala Matured 46%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Lots of orange, a little yeast, heather, bread, the Marsala wine comes through.

Taste: Soft and spicy start, orange, some yeast, more spice comes in with some dry oak, ginger then a bit weird with burnt plastic and unburnt plastic.

Finish: Medium length. Plastic-y, orange, weird.

Quite similar to what I imagine the Tamnavulin from last review would taste like at 46%. A strange one.

61/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #422

Whisky Network Review #469

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Mortlach 2008 Signatory Cask Strength Review

Hi everyone,

More exclusive whiskies for Belgium today. Actually, exclusive to one small whisky shop in Belgium...

Why is it useful to review whiskies like these, you ask?

Glad you asked, well often independent bottlers will buy a batch of casks from a distillery and release them at different times. Yes, each one will be different but also similar in style. There will undoubtedly be more 2008 Mortlach from Signatory.

Mortlach 2008 Signatory Cask Strength for Dim's Drams 60.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Very clean, light, very floral, young gummy bears, some perfume, lemon soap, cleaning spray, urinal cakes.

Taste: Very clean, slightly soapy but floral and perfumed. Lemon soap, cleaning spray, oily with a little oak.

Finish: Long length. More floral with some oils staying.

A very floral and somewhat soapy Mortlach. You can really see where those musky cologne notes come from in older Bourbon matured versions. None of the meatiness you'd get from a Sherried one.

71/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #419

Whisky Network Review #466

Network Average: 74.8

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?