Deanston 11yo 2006-2018 Signatory

16 March 2018

Time for a review, here’s the Deanston 11yo 2006 from Signatory. It’s bottled at a crazy 64.4% and has been lying around on a first fill sherry but for its entire maturation.

Tasting notes

Nose

Lots of concentrated fruit, an irony smell, vanilla, wood, spices, mainly ginger and nutmeg, it’s also somewhat peppery. After adding water: more honey, blossoms, oak and candied apple.

Palate

Wow, the alcohol is intense, but the flavours do come through just fine. The palate is leathery and drying and contains ginger, oak, honey, raisins and dried strawberries. Playing with water will tame the alcohol, but won’t change the palate much.

Finish

While the palate doesn’t bring too much complexity, the finish is rather powerful: dried fruits, honey, nuts, there’s the ginger again, iron, cedar wood, black berry juice, peanut and pistachio, there’s a small hint of raisins.

Overall it’s not your typical sherry matured whisky, it’s very much on the brighter and spicier side of the spectrum. The ginger and honey notes are the most notable, but through it, you’ll find the raisins and dried fruits. It’s sometimes a bit too peppery, that makes the typical sherry tones a little bit harder to find.

But when paired with a hot summer sun, the harshness will fade and you’ll end up with a real beauty. You’ll only have to love the floral and spicy style.