While officially undisclosed, this Old School Single Malt is probably from Bunnahabhain. Signatory Vintage released three or four already in a few months time, all sister casks. Indeed Bunnahabhain is probably one of the only coastal distilleries of which there are enough casks left of this age (especially 1973-1975), and we’ll see it does fit the profile.
Old School Single Malt ‘Coastal Edition’ 50 yo (43,1%, Signatory Vintage 2025, Batch #3, Oloroso sherry butt, 672 btl.)
Nose: pretty great. There’s a fresh breeze of eucalyptus and pine forest, on top of the polished furniture notes, leather and mild pecans. Underneath there is some roundness of marzipan and vanilla, along with salted caramel. Then a nice layer of dried apricots and candied oranges. Also raisins, subtle hints of red berries and indeed a coastal note. Complex.
Mouth: the wood left its mark, sure, but it comes with mint, candied ginger, subtle resins and plenty of dried herbs. Not too drying actually, it it balanced by some vanilla and some dried fruits again. Then leather appears, along with a tiny hoppy / marihuana note that is quite common in very old Bunnahabhain, some moss and dark chocolate. Subtle brine and a hint of cognac-like rancio. Too bad the texture is quite thin down the line.
Finish: medium length, still resinous, with a lot of tobacco leaves, a wee rye note and light salty notes.
A little high on resinous wood in the mouth, but the nose is really beautiful. Overall these are minor concessions to make for such an old Bunnahabhain at such a price. I hesitated between 89 and 90 points. It’s really good. I found a sample at Whiskysite.nl