We’ve bottled so many wonderful whiskies, it would be almost impossible to choose one in particular… I am proud to see so many Signatory Vintage bottlings getting top marks from WhiskyFun and Whisky Base! Our Springback 1969 40 Year Old, which was bottled in 2009, was number one in Whisky Base’s Top 100 for a few years even! Almost 10 years later, it’s still number 5 in the ranking! For me, it’s an incredible whisky but not the best. We have had, for example, a superb Macallan 1965 sherry cask, a legendary dark sherry Ardbeg 1967, and an incredibly good Laphroaig 1966, as well as more original expressions like a Glenugie 1966, an extraordinary Clynelish 1965, and a fabulous Glenlochie 1963… there are so many!

We’ve been watching the situation evolve for a few years now. That’s why I wanted to have my own production unit and bought Edradour in 2002. Luckily, we still have good relationships with distilleries, which means we can get some great casks. We still have a lot of stock and some great sherry casks in maturation. Nonetheless, we know all that could change. 20 years ago, who would have thought it would become impossible to buy a Macallan cask? All independent bottlers are facing the same problem today. The stocks from closed distilleries are almost empty, so we can’t offer such a rich and varied collection as we could before. Even though Signatory Vintage still represents 60% of our turnover, versus 40% for Edradour, the gap is closing and it will probably be the other way round in the future, which will give us more independence.

I think that’s probably a question for my kids! But I would hope they will continue to improve the quality of our whiskies year after year, and maintain our good relationship with La Maison du Whisky!