It’s always a treat to taste a whisky from a closed distillery. Imperial distillery was closed down at 1998, mothballed in 2013 and a new distillery, Dalmunach Distillery, was setup on the same ground by Chivas Bros.

1995 Is a very popular vintage with independent bottlers for Imperial whiskies. I had a few of those in the past although most were just meh so this Signatory bottling for The Whisky Exchange has piqued my interest.

Imperial 1995 20 Year Old Signatory Vintage for TWE (50.8%, Cask #50252, £69.95)

Nose: Fruit and herbals, eucalyptus, mint, nuts, flower petals (of light colors), floral meadow on a spring day, oranges, peaches after a while with more flower petals. With water it’s lighter and sweeter with added fragrance. Real nice!

Palate: Sweet fruit and herbal fragrance, sweet almost to cloying point nutmeg and oak wood spices. with water, still spicy with lots of oak wood spices, with herbal fragrance and not so sweet.

Finish: Medium length, sweet, slight fragrance, oranges peels. With water it’s spicy.

Thoughts: What a lovely Imperial whisky and it’s the best Imperial I’ve tasted to date. I think that another year in the cask would degrade it to the level of the other imperials I’ve tasted with too much cask influence, A great combo of sweetness, herbal and fruits at cask strength here, beating even the 2014 bottling done for Astra morris. From the four TWE exclusives whiskies, this comes at second place, just behind the Blair Athol 1988. With Imperial being a closed distillery along with a very affordable tag price it’s a recommended buy.