Glen Grant 31 yo 1965/1996 (58.4%, Signatory Vintage for USA, cask #5849, sherry, 176 bottles)
One of quite a few bottlings which Signatory did for the USA that are now extremely hard to come by. Colour: deep gold. Nose: an immediate plunge into tinned apricots, quince jelly, menthol tobaccos and exotic fruit syrups. Indeed, ‘syrupy’ is the watchword here. Concentrated and evolving a rather thrilling complexity. Lots of tiny notes of ripe plums, five spice, leather, camphor and mango chutney. This kind of dense, squidgy fruitiness that old Glen Grant so often excels at. With water: more apricots - fresh ones this time - some bouillon stock and a rather nice leafiness developing. Shades of tobaccos and damp earthen cellars. Mouth: you could be forgiven for thinking it was ten years younger. An abundant array of stewed spiced and fruits. Mulling spices with pears baked in VSOP Cognac. More of these warming quince jelly notes, dried tarragon, hawthorne and many sultanas and chopped dates. It’s a quiet sherry that has kept everything wonderfully punchy, nervous and fresh. Not to mention superbly clean and fruity. With water: perfectly rich, syrupy and fat now. Textural, gloopy and displaying all manner of tinned fruits, exotic fruit syrups, treacle, heather honey and dried mint. Finish: long, prickling with toasted spices, ripe banana, fruit compotes and then a rather bready and cereal flecked aftertaste which is quite refreshing. Comments: No surprises here. The kind of whisky that helped define what ‘good malt whisky’ was for a new generation of curious drinkers. Not to mention cement the reputation of this particular bottler.
SGP: 651 - 91 points.

Glen Grant 50 yo 1966/2016 (54.6%, Signatory Vintage, cask #884, sherry hogshead, 108 bottles)
I believe this bottling was/is a distillery exclusive only for sale at Edradour itself. Colour: amber. Nose: a beautiful aroma that manages to be both graceful and concentrated. Beeswax, pollens, quince, heather honey, precious hardwoods, camphor and furniture oils. Rather typical of old Glen Grant and totally superb! It’s also inhabiting quite a different ballpark to the 65 which is fun. With water: develops a beautifully taut aromatic profile full of resins, rare teas, soft tobacco notes, dried fruits and thrillingly clear and pure dunnage style earthiness with waxes and canvas cloth notes. Mouth: brilliant and powerful delivery. Roast chestnuts, almond oils, vapour rubs, old herbal liqueurs, long aged demerara rum, linseed oil, anthracite and every kind of dark fruit you can think of. Prunes soaked in Armagnac, raisins and maraschino cherry juices. Not tired at all - precisely the opposite in fact. Loads of warming grippy wood spices with bitter chocolate and espresso notes. With water: pristine! Out come many different dried and crystallised fruits, mint tea, coconut, lime leaf and always this peppery edge of clean, spicy wood around which everything else gravitates. Although, it never dominates or over-exerts itself at the expense of other flavours. Finish: long, leathery, spicy, chocolatey, nicely drying, earthy and leafy with some herbal cough mixtures in the aftertaste and dried tropical fruits. Comments: God I love Glen Grant. This one feels like it was captured at a perfect peak. Concentrated, complex, powerful and yet also controlled, balanced and beautifully structured. What a cask!
SGP: 561 - 92 points.