Aberlour 19 Year Old 1990 Signatory Vintage

I first tried this whisky at the festival in Ghent (Belgium) in February 2011. I brought a sample home as well, to try it again. It came out of those iconic decanters that Signatory is well-known for (and my mother in law loves to use to keep her olive oils). The pale colour announces the use of a bourbon cask. It’s from the Cask Strength Collection.

The nose is a whole orchard of white fruit (apple, pear, peach) and makes the whisky appear younger than its 19 years. Very crispy and sweet. Some caramel and sweet malt. You wouldn’t guess this has such a high ABV.

On the palate it’s young and fruity, mildly spicy on white pepper. I get licquorice, pineapple, apricots on syrup and a touch of tangerine. Apple sauce. Good.

The finish, that is medium in length, remains sweet.

Tasting this blind, I would not have recognized this as Aberlour. It has hardly any resemblance to the official releases. That probably says more of my experience with this Speysider than it does of Aberlour. The Signatory warehouses are stacked with sistercasks. They already botted casks 101767 to 101774, as well as 101777 and 101778, all from 1990. I wonder if casks 101775 and 101776 were destined for the Clan Campbell blend?