Review #685 - Signatory Vintage Glenlivet 19 Year Single Cask (1996) - K&L Wine Merchants Selection

From their Un-Chillfiltered Collection, Signatory Vintage presented this 19 year old Glenlivet single cask back in 2015. It's actually a single cask selection done by K&L Wine Merchants, a spirits retail chain based in California; the spirit in this single cask was distilled back in 1996.

Back in 2015 when it was released, this single cask was a good deal: $90 for a cask strength 19 year single malt from a beloved distillery, and one that spent time aging in a first fill sherry butt, too. We don't know if that was a full maturation in sherry or just a finish, but based on the very dark natural color of the whisky, we're assuming that it was at least a period of several years in the sherry butt.

In the end, 521 bottles were produced at a (relatively low, for cask strength standards) strength of 50.9% ABV.

Signatory Vintage Glenlivet 19 Year Single Cask (1996) - K&L Wine Merchants Selection

Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt

Price: USD 125 (2025)

Age Statement: 19 Years

Strength: 50.9% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill sherry butt

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; cask 83265; distilled May 20, 1996; bottled September 30, 2015; 521 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 7 months; bottles at 100%, 80%, and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Rich, syrupy fruits like prunes, dates, some plum. A bit of musty malt is still present, and there's a nice old oak note: perfumed wood, tobacco, it almost smells like an old bourbon. Quite mature, and we get hints of chocolate and sulphur at times, along with fudge, orange, and figs.

Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness; the complexion is dark, with a combination of sweet and spicy flavors. Syrupy raspberry, candied strawberry, and tart cherry are balanced by older, tannic oak and that soft sulphur, which returns from the nose. Leather and cinnamon spice bring more oak notes, and in the background, it's lightly savory, and we get a hint of stone fruit like peach.

Finish: Cherries, cranberry sauce, strawberry jam, tons of red berry flavors. While there's still a drying sensation from cinnamon and leathery oak, it begins to mellow out; darker fruits of blackberry and blackcurrant pop up. It's sugary at times, and we get soft pastry notes in the aftertaste. The finish is medium length or so.

Final Note: This bottle is a treat - an unabashed sherry bomb, of course, but it also has nuances that elevate it over other bottles with the sherry profile. The longer time spent in oak means that there's a nice drying oak influence behind the plethora of sweet red fruits; we also loved the mild sulphur/savory notes that popped up in both the nose and palate. Even though 50.9% ABV isn't particularly high for a cask strength bottling, this one still brings plenty of layers and decent texture, and we think the strength here is just right.

Value at the original sales price of $90 would be absolutely amazing, and even now on the secondary market, you can find good deals on bottles like this. We picked this bottle up at auction for $110, which is still excellent value for a 19 year old, cask strength single malt; it's hard to find a current market price given the sparseness of specific bottlings like this popping up on auction, but single cask Glenlivets like this seem to be available at auction for $120 to $135 much of the time. At those prices, it's still a great purchase.

Our Average Rating: 7.9 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.45

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.