While you may not have tried this particular expression of Glenmorangie, you most probably have seen it. The Signet seems to be at every airport duty free shop I’ve been to. It is often encased in glass surrounded by black and golden decorations based on the pattern on the front label. It comes with a spiffy looking black box which to me screams “gift for Chinese business exec”. I am sure quite a few have been used for just that purpose.

What’s interesting about the Signet is that they used chocolate malt (a heavily roasted malt that is dark brown like chocolate) and “designer casks” from American oak. They also claim to have used some 30 year old whiskies from the time when they used to do their own floor maltings. A nice touch, but this is still a non-age statement whisky. At this point it seems like a lot of companies are using this marketting ploy of stating that some incredibly old and rare whiskies have gone into certain NAS expressions. What I wonder is how much of this was done for marketting purposes and how much for flavour. I suspect they don’t use that much from the old stock which would suggest that the implications on flavour are minimal at best. I am a skeptic at heart so I could very well be wrong here. Meh.

Disitllery: Glenmorangie Distillery

Age: NAS

ABV: 46%

Cask: Designer Casks

Price: ~£125 (£123.95 at Master of Malt)

Continue reading →