Hey There. Welcome back. We live in a world that is quite expensive as of late. Inflation is quite high, stuff is just getting more expensive by the day. Why? Well, that is not my place to say. All I know, is that we "whisky lovers", we are all looking for good deals on whisky and good price / value bottles. Am I right? I think I am. Today I brought you a whisky from the independent bottler Signatory Vintage that is a true gem and also a very good price / value whisky. As a matter of fact, Signatory Vintages 100 proof series is quite amazing taste and pricewise too.

About Signatory Vintage

Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co. Ltd., founded in 1988 by Andrew Symington, is a top independent bottler of Scotch whisky in Scotland. They are known for their wide range of high-quality single malt scotches.

Signatory gets its name from the practice of having each whisky cask signed by an esteemed person as a mark of quality. They focus on transparency and authenticity. Unlike some whiskies that add colour or use chill-filtration, Signatory keeps its whiskies natural. This gives a truer taste of the whisky's original character.

Signatory stands out with its large selection. They offer single malts, grains, and blended malts from many Scottish distilleries. These range from young to old and rare whiskies. Some are from closed distilleries, making Signatory a key source for rare Scotch whiskies.

Choosing the right cask is crucial for Signatory. Each cask is picked for its unique features and taste. Signatory is known for its single cask whiskies. These are very limited and collectable. Each single cask bottle is unique, showing a specific time from the distillery.

After buying the Edradour Distillery in 2002, Signatory can mature their casks in-house. They use Edradour's traditional warehouses. This lets them control the maturation process. It also lets them finish their whiskies in different cask types, including sherry, port, and wine.

Signatory's quality and hard work have been recognised in the whisky industry. They have won many awards. Their focus on detail and quality over quantity appeals to those who love fine single malt whisky.

About the Miltonduff distillery

Miltonduff distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Miltonduff six miles south-west of Elgin in the whisky region of Speyside.

The distillery site 'Milton' was said to have been chosen because of the good quality of the local water source under the ownership of Pluscarden Abbey; indeed, the distillery is the site of the Abbey's former mill.

The distillery was founded in 1824 by Andrew Peary and Robert Bain. The distillery had previously operated illicitly on the site since the turning of the century, but following the passing of the Excise Act, Peary and Bain established the distillery as a legitimate business operation.

In 1866, the distillery was acquired by William Stuart (owner of the Highland Park Distillery) and he eventually entered into business with Thomas Yool in 1890, when the distillery was expanded and reached production of over one million litres of alcohol.

In 1936 they sold the site on to Hiram Walker. The year before, Hiram Walker had acquired George Ballantine's & Sons thanks to the enormous profits that they had made during Prohibition by smuggling alcohol into America.

The distillery site was expanded with the construction of Allied Distillers' Malt Technical Centre, laboratory, engineering department and management offices. In 1960, the distillery was notable as the pioneer of a new method of heating the wash stills. In 1964, a pair of Lomond stills were installed at the distillery in order to start producing the Mosstowie Single Malt.

In 1981, the Lomond stills were removed, therefore eliminating the production of Mosstowie. The Lomond stills were replaced by regular pot stills in order to keep up the production levels. 

In 1986, the majority of the Hiram Walker stocks were acquired by Allied Domecq, and in 1987, they acquired the rest of the company. In 2005, Pernod Ricard acquired Miltonduff through the corporate merger of Allied and Pernod. It is now operated under their subsidiary Chivas Brothers.

In May 2022, Chivas Brothers announced that £88 million would be invested in the expansion of the distillery (together with Aberlour distillery).

Miltonduff 2011 100 proof SV - Natural Color, Non-chill filtered, 57,1%

"A small batch Miltonduff 2011 12-year-old Speyside single malt whisky bottled in 2024 without colouring or chill filtration by Signatory Vintage as Edition 14 in their zeitgeist-capturing 100 Proof Editions range.

This 12-year-old Miltonduff 2011 was bottled at 57.1% from a batch of first fill Oloroso sherry butts, and its magnificently dark chestnut colour is a fairly clear indicator of what you're getting here. A must-have for fans of sherried Speyside whisky with an eye for a bargain."

Nose: Wow. Aromatic, deep right away. Firstly I am getting plums, and peaches. Then strong barley notes and vanilla. Oak. Raspberries, cherries and red wine. Espresso and milk chocolate. Walnuts and maple syrup. The cask definitely took over. Very sweet, very deep nose. 

Taste: Very oily and textured. Chewy, you can almost chew on this whisky. Very thick, almost syrupy. Lots of oak come to the forward with black pepper and cinnamon. Raspberries, cherries, red fruits and espresso. Caramelized dark oranges, figs and plums. Lots of milk chocolate with barley and nuts. Maple syrupy, grannys jam. Quite sweet, perhaps overly? Espresso balancing the sweetness, if that is even possible here. Again some bold notes of oak and sweetness.

Finish: Medium to long, spicy wood, espresso and black pepper. Very thick but it gets very dry quite quickly. Herbs, figs and dates. It is ok.

Overall I think this is a great price / value bottle. I picked it up for around 45 euros. This whisky is for those who have a sweet tooth. Very syrup like. However for the price it is an amazing bottle. It brings those sweet notes of red fruits, oak and chocolate. If you see it and you like sweet things, be sure to pick it up, you won't regret it. I am rating this whisky 87 / 100. Buy it, try it. Drink responsibly. 

Some pictures in this article are not owned by me, I tagged their owner and I attached a link of their site. All other pictures that have my logo on them are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

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Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head over HERE.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.