Strathmill by Signatory makes the sherry wood sing
Just like the Glen Spey we tasted a few months ago, Strathmill is not really a household name for the average whisky enthusiast. You can notice it straight away when you post something about such an unknown distillery: the likes are absent and the hits on the blog below the normal curve. Luckily, at LPA we do not care about clicks and likes, we care about chronicling active distilleries. Strathmill had no featured on this blog yet, but thanks to independent bottler Signatory Vintage we get a chance to taste a rather recent one.
Strathmill is an almost standard Speyside distillery, erected in 1891 and producing fillings for famous blends, most notably the J&B blended Scotch, just like Glen Spey. The J&B brand has actually steadily declined in sales the last few years, but is still featured on the edge of the top 10 of most sold Scotch. We see another similarity with Glen Spey in that Strathmill also uses purifiers on the stills. The distillery has also been producing gin in more recent years. Official releases are very rare, with only a Flora & Fauna releases and the occasional one-off.
Strathmill 2012, 12 years old, bottled at 57,1 % abv by Signatory Vintage
First things first: A decent age on this Strathmill, matured in first fill oloroso butts. Bottled in 2025 as edition # 36 in the Signatory 100 proof series.
Upon Sipping: Classic nose full of red fruits, tobacco leaves and dry spices. Certainly not as goofy as Glen Spey. Some wet whisky cask comes through, damp earthen floor, before finally settling on plums and dades. Very rich and elegant. Professionals in the business (I just the term lightly) keep moaning about Signatory ruining the market with all these “cheap” releases, but whatever the case: the consumer is the winner here. Sherried whisky of this quality will easily fetch twice the price in the wrong hands. Taking a sip, the sweetness arrives early before giving way to a more sticky and caramelized mid-palate, onwards to the finish. Oh, this is just delightful, with a kinky fruity element that I have difficulty pinpointing exactly. You see a lot of sherry seasoned casks out there for maturation, but a classic butt like this one will always outshine those efforts. This Strathmill was lucky to be put in such quality wood. With water the nose loses some power but we do find our mystery guest amidst the violence: a nice flavour of blueberry coming through.
Word to the Wise: Very solid Signatory release, and yes, I lead with that, because ultimately I do not think we got a lot of Strathmill character here. We might have to return for that one day. In any case, it was the perfect stepping stone for the sherry butt to shine upon.
Score: 85 points.