Glen Keith 1997/2018 Signatory 20 year old Single Speyside Malt 46%

Two hogsheads, filled on the same day in May 1997, emptied on the same day in February 2018. Exactly twenty years and eight months in between. Signatory has a habit of writing the dates out in full, and here it gives a neat picture of how closely the two casks tracked each other.

Please note: The image is a stock photo.

The expert's description

Glen Keith 1997/2018 Signatory 20 Year Old is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky from two hogsheads, bottled at 46%.

The casks were filled on 26 May 1997 and emptied on 26 February 2018 — hogsheads number 72609 and 72610, married into one bottling, non-chill filtered and with no added colour. The 46% is chosen rather than cask strength, and it suits a spirit like Glen Keith: bright and lightly waxy, where too much alcohol easily tramples over the fruit.

The spirit dates from 1997, which is two years before Glen Keith was mothballed. Seagram used the distillery as its experimental plant and ran trials on yeast strains and mashing here, so production varied more than at an ordinary Speyside distillery. That is exactly why the year on a Glen Keith matters more than on most others.

Tasting notes

Nose

Bright and clean. Pear, green apple and lemon peel, with vanilla and a dry malt note behind. After a couple of minutes a trace of beeswax emerges.

Palate

Soft and lightly oily. Honey, ripe pear and pale caramel, with a hint of toasted almond. The dryness only arrives at the end and keeps the whisky from turning dully sweet.

Finish

Medium. Malt, pear and a dry, faintly peppery close.

Specifications

Name: Glen Keith 1997/2018 Signatory 20 Year Old Speyside Single Malt 46%
Distillery: Glen Keith
Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 20 years
ABV: 46%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Hogsheads no. 72609 and 72610
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Distilled: 26 May 1997
Bottled: 26 February 2018
EAN no.: 5021944094752

Flavour profile

Fruity · Malty · Honeyed · Dry · Soft

Investment potential

Medium. The spirit dates from 1997, from the final years before Glen Keith closed, and those bottlings exist in a number that cannot grow. A 20 year old from the period at an ordinary bottling strength is the kind of bottle that quietly disappears from shelves without being speculated on.

Did you know?

Seagram used Glen Keith to trial new yeast strains and mashing methods before putting them into service at other distilleries. That makes the older spirit less predictable than most — two vintages from Glen Keith can sit further apart than you are used to.

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Frequently asked questions about Glen Keith 1997/2018 Signatory 20 Year Old

Why are two casks married rather than one?

Because the two hogsheads were filled on the same day and sat side by side for twenty years. Marrying them gives Signatory a larger bottling with the same character, instead of two almost identical single cask releases. The cask numbers still appear on the label.

What is the difference between 46% and cask strength?

Cask strength is the strength the whisky has straight from the cask, and after twenty years that typically sits somewhere in the fifties. The 46% here is a deliberate choice: high enough for the whisky to stay unfiltered, low enough to drink neat without water.

What does a 20 year old Glen Keith taste like?

Bright, soft and fruity rather than powerful. Twenty years in hogsheads gives the spirit time to round out, but without the heavy oak imprint you get from smaller casks. There is honey and pear rather than sherry and chocolate.

Is it peated?

No. Glen Keith has worked with unpeated malt, and there are no peat notes in the whisky. The dryness you meet at the end comes from the cask. See the other Scottish styles in our Scotch Whisky selection.

What does it mean that the whisky is from 1997?

That the spirit was made two years before the distillery was mothballed. Glen Keith stood silent from 1999 to 2013, so everything from before 1999 comes from a production that was shut down and later rebuilt. The number of bottles from that period can only fall.

Does it suit someone new to single malt?

Yes. 46% is on the manageable side, there is no smoke, and the profile is soft and fruity. At the same time twenty years and an independent bottler are enough to give it something to say to a more experienced drinker too.

Which glass do you recommend?

A tulip-shaped nosing glass. The whisky is bright and aromatic, and a narrow glass keeps the pear and vanilla together. In a wide tumbler you lose a good part of that fine fruit.