One Oloroso butt, filled on a May day in 2005 and left alone until seventeen winters had passed. No water added, no colouring, no other whisky blended in. Just the one cask and the dark, spiced mark Orkney left on it.
The expert's description
Orkney 17 (HP) 2005/2023 Signatory Vintage is a Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured for seventeen years in a single Oloroso Sherry Butt and bottled at cask strength, 55.6%.
Orkney is the code independent bottlers use when they have bought casks from Highland Park but may not print the distillery name on the label. The letters HP in the product name are as close to a pointer as the trade gets. The cask carries the number DRU17/A63 and goes by the designation Cask #8.
It was filled on 7 May 2005 and emptied on 23 January 2023, yielding 596 bottles of natural colour whisky. Several sister casks were distilled on the same day, but each one matured on its own, and this one landed at the spicier end of the family.
An Oloroso Sherry Butt holds around 500 litres and is the largest cask size in common use in Scotland. Less wood in relation to liquid means slower maturation, so after seventeen years the sherry reads as dried fruit and nuts rather than as a layer of sweetness laid on top. Beneath it, Orkney heather peat runs as a thin, mineral smoke.
Tasting notes
Nose
Raisins, orange peel and a seam of dark chocolate. Underneath sits a dry, mineral smoke, closer to wet stone than to a bonfire, with a trace of old leather.
Palate
Full and warm from the first sip. Dried fig and vanilla ride on a spiced sherry core of black pepper and clove, and the smoke shows up only at the end, a thin thread drawn through the sweetness.
Finish
Long. The sherry sweetness lingers while salt and smoke draw a cool, maritime line across it and leave the mouth dry.
Specifications
Name: Orkney 17 (HP) 2005/2023 Signatory Vintage 17 year Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 55.6%
Distillery: Orkney
Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Region/Country: Orkney Islands, Scotland
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 17 years
ABV: 55.6%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Oloroso Sherry Butt, Cask #8, cask number DRU17/A63
Natural colour: Yes
Distilled: 7 May 2005
Bottled: 23 January 2023
Number of bottles: 596
EAN no.: 5021944121687
Flavour profile
Sherry matured · Smoky · Spicy · Maritime
Investment potential
High. A Single Cask drawn from one Oloroso Sherry Butt can neither be repeated nor topped up, and Orkney bottlings with seventeen years behind them and cask strength in the bottle are exactly what collectors hunt for.
Did you know?
Signatory Vintage bought Edradour Distillery in Perthshire in 2002, one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland, and has since bottled both its own spirit and casks sourced across Scotland from the same warehouse.
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