Signatory Vintage was founded by Andrew Symington in 1988 as a result of his desire to ‘get into’ the whisky industry. He began buying casks and released his first bottling - a 1968 Glenlivet for Japan - in 1988. There followed a remarkable string of releases of great whiskies under what is now referred to as the ‘Ink Pot’ labels.

There were single casks and small-batch bottlings at both cask strength, 46% and 43%. Further ranges included Dun Eideann, The Un-Chillfiltered Collection and various iterations of the Signatory Vintage series. Signatory also bottled for the First Cask series by Direct Wines.

The parcels of stock which Andrew sourced over the years have gone down in whisky lore with some of them now being the stuff of legend. The 1960s and 1970s Laphroaigs, the 1949 Macallan, the 1970s Port Ellens, the 1967 Ardbegs: all are now hugely sought after and extremely rare.

More than almost any company, Signatory is the epitome of the modern, successful independent bottler. Even to this day, Andrew has been careful to hold onto excellent stock and not to release all his good casks too soon. There are likely to be amazing bottlings for years to come.