Ben Nevis 8yo 100º Proof
Signatory Vintage 100 Proof Series | 57.1% ABV
An Antidote
In a world of premiumisation, be like the 100 Proof Series.
Meet Mack. Mack has always been a good guy, first-class. But one day Mack discovers he has a huge following and soon afterwards Mack starts wearing designer clothes and driving around in big, flashy cars. This causes Mack to lose many of his original followers.
Next meet Vinn. Vinn is a pretty cool dude too. Most people like Vinn, but perhaps not as many as those that had liked Mack, but enough that should Vinn want to he could afford the designer clothes and flashy cars. Vinn certainly has a few trinkets and he’s certainly not averse to the odd fast car or first class holiday, but his feet are firmly on the ground and he remembers how to treat those that like him.
When fame gets to your head, a gentle reminder of where one’s roots are is not a bad thing. Vinn still has most of his friends whereas anyone and everyone is trying to make money from any association with Mack.
Facetiousness aside, Signatory’s 100º Proof Series is a clear demonstration that some companies can and do listen to their adoring public. When the concern is first and foremost to drink the contents, the less frills the better. Especially when it comes to packaging.
To release a series geared so prominently at drinkers in today’s period of premiumisation is commendable. Signatory has also managed to seamlessly straddle both ends of the spectrum. You can buy the £3,000 50yo malt or the £30 blended malt and everything in-between. But this new 100º Proof Series has very squarely stated “We know what you want” to the hordes of eager yet disappointed whisky enthusiasts.
It is a nod to a by-gone time when casks were not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.
It would seem like, from the customer side of the transaction, that this is a direct shot of adrenaline to a stuffy and over-stocked, over-sold and over-egged supply chain. A fresh new take on offering solid and dependable drinking malts to a base of enthusiastic drinkers who care far less about how pretty the bottles are and far more about how good the liquid is. Given the familiarity of the presentation and the quite incredible - on paper - value, it looks like Signatory Vintage have leveraged their stocks and positioning to bring forth a bright beacon of hope for all of us searching not for cheap, but for fair.
Enough, let’s drink the damn thing.
Review
Ben Nevis 8yo, Signatory Vintage 100 Proof Series, 1st & 2nd Fill oloroso butts, 57.1% ABV
£45-48 and still some availability
Nose
Well we know where we’re going with this one.
Occasionally a colour like this is worrying; will a dollop of sulphur hit me? Or baby sick? or will it just be so dry that all that is left is the burnt part of the pan after frying something for too long?
Thankfully, at least so far on the nose, there’s none of that here. There is, as you would expect, the figs, the dates, the grape skin, two helpings of Christmas pudding with brandy butter. It is chock full of raisins – chocolate covered raisins - but there’s also a red-fruitiness riding along the top of all of these boisterous aromas that come with big ex-Sherry whiskies. There’s an element of Danish pastries – the ones with the jam in the middle. Remarkably the 57.1% is not causing my eyes to water nor nose to prickle – again that may say more about my physical condition than the power of the alcohol… ahem.
Palate
I was expecting an absolute uppercut from the biggest of the Sherry flavours, yet it’s softly sweet with some lovely fruitiness (mostly grape but some red berries too) and then the rolling wave of Sherry, raisins, Christmas pudding, strudel. I’m reminded of Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stealing the gum that was a full three course meal, instead of those three courses we’re getting two desserts, each with an accompanying fortified wine.
It is slightly drier than the nose suggests but at eight years old I was worried it would suck out all of the moisture in my mouth – which it does not. A small addition of water and the dryness is tempered. The Ben Nevis element is still there although clearly masked by a very active ex-Sherry cask. You can get a little hint of funkiness – think dunnage floor or a mustiness that is so often found in great Ben Nevis bottlings.
The Dregs
I can’t help but think about the movie Demolition Man, when Sly’s character, John Spartan, is invited out for dinner where the only restaurant chain left in the future is Taco Bell. When the movie came out that was quite funny – not so much now. I often wondered with the dearth of casks available whether a similar scenario could occur in the independent bottling world – “we are left with just one” – and, being the two biggest, would that have meant either Signatory or Gordon & MacPhail? With G&M pulling out, will Signatory take that number one spot at some point? My point here is that, with the current and recent supply issues, only good stocks of casks will allow any independent bottler a future. Not many could offer a series to compete with this 100 Proof Series that Signatory have recently unveiled.
Scoring this is hard. It is a really solid whisky – better than solid. Assuming you like heavily sherried whiskies (and I get that some don’t, in which case avoid) this is so far up your alley that it has made friends with your cat and mowed your lawn.
It immediately gets a point for value, in a world where that word has become a pariah, it gets points, lots more for no sulphur, no gun-powder and absolutely no baby sick (again granted that some like sulphur, but surely no-one likes baby sick?).
What I am truly amazed at, and swayed by, is that in a world where Signatory could have easily made more money selling this cask on the open market (and quite possibly a lot more) they have instead bottled it with no frills, no fanfare and in a way that absolutely appeals to folk like us.
I’m not just nodding in agreement, I’m standing up and clapping so hard my hands hurt.
This has tugged at my heart-strings. I’m welling up… bravo my friends. Bravo.
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. FF