Signatory (distilled at Balmenach) 1988

It’s a crying shame that this great distillery is so rarely seen. Here, a bourbon cask has reduced the meatiness and amplified the fruity component, but these are fruits with depth and power, allied to dried flowers. The mango-like sweetness is reduced to syrup; there’s light plum jam and some old paper. Sweet on the tongue, with crystallized ginger, apricot, and a finish of spice, and the strange sweetness of licorice root. (The Whisky Exchange only.) £84