Scotch Whisky Review #325: Signatory Vintage Imperial 19 Year (1995)
Distillery: Imperial.
Bottler: Signatory Vintage.
Region: Speyside.
Age: 19 Year. Distilled on August 21st, 1998. Bottled on March 17th, 2015.
ABV: 46.0%.
Cask Type: Hogshead.
Cask Number: #50185.
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/herr_maltenberg.
Color: 0.8, Deep Gold. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.
Nose: There’s a ton of tart fruits front and center. Citrus in the form of lemon and pomelo are quite strong. Golden kiwi also comes through along with some kind of wild berry. Notes of malt and shortbread with a tiny bit of toffee wrap things up.
Palate: Much like the nose suggested, the first sip of this was quite fruity. A mix of orchard fruits comes through nice and strong along with some lemon. The next sip had none of the fruit and was rather aromatic and almost herbal. Rosemary and sage are what comes to mind the most. The fruity and aromatic notes seem to alternate as you drink this down making for a pretty fun whisky. In every sip, malt pops in towards the end.
Finish: Medium in length. Malt and lemon zest are the first notes. While the first few sips iddn’t leave behind any creamy notes, they seem to pop in as times goes on. More aromatic notes also build up. The end result is a spice and herb blend reminds me heavily of the brine mixture I used for my Thanksgiving turkey last year. Vegetable broth, brown sugar, and allspice are the main notes to stick out.
Conclusion: I’ve heard some really good things about Imperial distillery and excited to try it, plus it is another distillery off of my “Gotta Try ‘Em All” list. I have to say, this is probably the most interesting dram I’ve had in a while. The nose is quite nice with some tart fruits along with shortbread. The palate is where the most fun happens, with sips seemingly alternating between fruity and aromatic/herbal notes. The finish starts fruity before building up into a delicious reminder of last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. With turkey season right around the corner again, this had me looking forward to making another. Would I buy a bottle? Absolutely.
Final Score: 88.
Scotch Whisky Review #325, Speyside Review #123, Whisky Network Review #470
Scoring Legend:
- 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
- 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
- 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
- 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
- 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
- 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
- 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
- Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.
Scotch & Sheen 
