Review by: The Muskox
Despite a relatively small sample size, Imperial has become one of my very favourite Speyside distilleries. It delivers the tropical and waxy goods regularly, and despite closing in 1998, it doesn’t have the same dead-distillery premium as many of the bigger names. This Signatory bottling will be the oldest vintage Imperial I’ve ever tried.
As an aside – fuck Dalmunach. All my homies hate Dalmunach.
Distillery: Imperial.
Bottler: Signatory Vintage.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 43%.
Age: 19 years. Distilled October 8th 1976. Bottled in May 1996.
Cask type: Cask #7561, an “oak cask”.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Straw. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Sweet and fatty. Creamy tropical notes of coconut cream, frozen pineapple chunks, and some custardy key lime pie. Lots of paraffin wax, vanilla poached pears, rose petals, and something like sandalwood. Effervescent sparkling white wine. A slightly grimy and industrial edge. Earthy-herbal characteristics – thyme + tarragon compound butter, turmeric, and whole-grain mustard. Wait, is this peated?
Palate: Light texture. It is peated! Pineapple gummy bears, Canada Dry ginger ale, pancetta fat, and cool smoke on the arrival. A flash of honey-glazed sweet malt. Mild peat smoke on the development, with pine boughs, decaying logs, and a strong mineral note. Slate quarry and smashed river rocks. Extra-dark chocolate. There’s almost a pickled character – it has this attractive briny-sour-fruity snap to it.
Finish: Fairly short, but with long-lasting earthy smoke. Burning grass, charred marshmallow, lime zest, wet hay, mossy logs. Black pepper bloomed in olive oil. Petrichor. Kimchi???
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Rocks Rockefeller”
Conclusion: What a cool whisky! I’ve never had a peated Imperial before – then again, I’ve never had an Imperial distilled this far back into the 70s before either. The cool mineral peat character works really well with the classic Imperial paraffin and tropical fruits. It’s reminiscent of some Bowmores, or even some of those Compass Box Clynelish/Caol Ila blends. Uniquely, though, this one has that effervescent and pickled character, combined with a coconut/pork fattiness, which makes it so interesting to drink. This whisky developed in the glass dramatically over the course of the hour or so that I spent with it. To me, that’s the sign of a great whisky.
Final Score: 89.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 