Signatory Speyside (M) [Macallan] 12yo

The Maker

Signatory Vintage is based at the Edradour distillery on the outskirts of Pitlochry in the Highlands. Set up by Andrew Symington and his brother in 1988, it has become one of the best regarded independent bottlers in Scotland, thanks in large part to its relatively new 100% Proof series which is showing the way for the rest of the sector in terms of price and quality.

Apparently this way has proven to be a little upsetting to some, as selling high quality, cask strength whisky at close to £50 ($66US) a bottle has exposed the scale of price gouging going on by some other bottlers. In the defence of others, it could be that Signatory has used its reputation and connections to negotiate better deals with distilleries than others can achieve. But either way, what Signatory has been doing the last few years has shown what good can look like, and has won over many new fans because of it.

Alongside the 100% Proof series Signatory has a number of other lines which show scotch at its best, from the un-chill-filtered series through to the cask strength collection which can always be found in those rather swanky oblong decanters. Over the years I must have tried over 50 releases from Signatory, and I can honestly say that I have never had a dram I did not enjoy. It is a standard unmatched in my experience so hopefully, this is going to be another good one!

The Expression

Macallan distillery, or 'the' Macallan as they prefer, was founded in 1824 on a farm near the Speyside town of Craigellachie. The early decades were ones of small distillation, with most of the whisky being supplied to local hotels and grossers for blending.

That all sounds like a long way from what Macallan has now become as part of the Edrington Group alongside Highland Park and Glenrothes. Since taking over previous owner Highland Distillers in 1999, Edrington has pushed Macallan to the hights of 'whisky premiumisation' with an unending fleet of special releases which have driven sections of the whisky community wild. Sometimes with envy, often with bemusement.

During the same period Edrington built a new distillery on the site designed by Norman Foster (think curves and glass know locally as 'Teletubbie Land') and pushed up core range release prices significantly. Beyond that there is not a whole lot interesting to say about Macallan. It is a pretty standard distillery which has wrapped itself up in so much marketing and preimmunised nonsense that the whisky itself has become somewhat secondary.

This Signatory Macallan was released under the common 'Speyside (M)' moniker. There are numerous possible reasons why the Macallan name was not used here. But one of the most common is that the distillery does not want independent bottlers to use the name for branding reasons. That might be the case, or it could just be that the paperwork was not properly marked when the cask came into Signatory's possession. Either way, these code names make light of the restrictions as nobody is left in any doubt as to where this whisky came from.

As this is Edition 11 of the Small Batch Editions range (I have recently reviewed Edition 1 which was a fantastic Mortlach), this release has been brought down to a healthy 48.2% after 12 years of maturation in Oloroso casks. Distilled in 2011, I picked this up way back in 2024 for around £60 ($80USD) - which when you consider the core-range Macallan 12 Sherry Oak is currently in excess of £80 ($106USD) and at just 40%, makes this seem like a rather good deal indeed. Naturally this is neither coloured or chill-filtered either!

The Neck Pour

The nose is immediately dominated by a strong oloroso. This includes mountains of rich raisin, bitter hazelnuts and an heavy undercurrent of oak char. Then comes the savoury notes of leather and a spike of furniture polish. This is swiftly followed by that Macallan signature of sulphur.

The palate starts off very sweet. Then comes a big hit of sulphur before finishing with glazed hazelnuts. A note I consistently get with Macallan is popcorn, and this is delivering that in spades. If you like this you will love this bottle, but if sulphur and caramel popcorn is not for you then you are better off elsewhere.

The Body

The bottle has been open a little over six months and the rich sherry still dominates the nose. It is so thick you can almost chew the dried fruit. The sulphur remains below that alongside a growing sent of honeycomb.

On the palate the glazed hazelnuts are still there and if anything have got a little stronger. Then comes the caramel popcorn and a big dose of sulphur. The sulphur delivers a nice bitterness to the finish. What is good about this is the strong flavours, but what is missing is the integration of those flavours. Maybe it was a particularly reactive cask, but it feels a little like a whisky at war with itself. Nonetheless I continue to like this, but when I shared it with my tasting group it was very divisive, with far more on the negative side than the positive.

Final Thoughts

As I come to the end of the bottle it is still delivering all of the above but is no more integrated. Clearly it was a top quality cask (as you would expect from Signatory) but I wonder if a few more years maturation would have rounded off some of the spikey edges that most people I have shared this with have found off putting.

In the final third it is the sherry which has become all the more present, pushing the sulphur down somewhat. I would go so far to say that it is approaching Bunna 18yo levels of sherry dominance, joined by a small hint of dark chocolate.

It is a long time since I have bought an official bottling of Macallan and that is unlikely to change anytime soon with the prices they charge compared to releases like this, or blends from the likes of Little Brown Dog. It seems to be another good example of a distillery chasing a market which is not me. I am simply glad there are independent bottlers out there to plug the gap.