Review 263. Symington’s 10 year old: THE bang for buck whisky of the year!?

Ok so first of all apologies for being AWOL last week. I simply didn’t get round to writing something and while it’s not unusual for me to occasionally take  a small break from blogging, I do tend to announce these pauses. But life and work has been a bit ‘much’ in recent weeks, meaning I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind to focus on whisky, nor did I find the time to give putting down some words their due attention and dedication. Because while this is a hobby and therefore a ‘fun’ thing to do, I do take having fun rather seriously. As in, I don’t want to absent - mindedly and haphazardly put something ‘out there’ just for the sake of it. Just because it’s not Pulitzer price material doesn’t mean I don’t take pride in what I do 😉. And while work is still a tad busy and hectic (not a bad thing per se, of course), the life bit seems to have taken a turn for the better, so back in the saddle it is.

Anyway, last weekend was filled with a lot of whisky goodness and fun, as I had the pleasure of hosting a meet-up for some of my fellow Belgian barflies. Just a small group of people getting together to enjoy each other’s company, engage in conversation and share some wonderful whisky. Getting  fully encapsulated in my ‘whisky bubble’ for half a day was just what I needed to lift the mood, and as these things go, quite a bit of samples and heels exchanged hands in the process.  As a result, I’m now pretty much armed an fully loaded with a crap ton of new samples to feed this blog for several weeks, if not months.  I’ve said it before and I’ll never stop repeating it: the kindness and generosity of our community is something to hold dear and treasure. One of the samples I got to take home was  firmly on my radar when it was released late 2025, around the time when Roy hosted a vPub live from Edrington distillery. On this vPub, Roy had a long and very interesting conversation with Andrew Symington, owner of Edradour (and Ballechin) and of course the guy behind Signatory Vintage. The drink of choice that evening (or at least  one of the drinks of choice) was this very whisky.

Symington’s 10 year old blended Scotch whisky. Sherry and bourbon casks matured, 46% ABV, NC, UCF, app. €35/£30 and widely available

Maybe it’s because I don’t necessarily seek out sherried whiskies, but Edradour has been somewhat in a blind spot for me. Sure I’ve tried and enjoyed their 10 yo (even when it was at 40% ABV- something that also has recently been ‘rectified’) and the 12 year old, (which I reviewed here a few years ago), but I never truly connected with either Edrington or its peated sibling Ballechin. More fool me, because as such that’s a bit odd, seeing how Signatory has arguably been my ‘go to’ indie bottler throughout the years. Soon after getting properly into whisky, Signatory was probably the first indie bottler that crossed my path and has remained with me since. Of course to no small amount  it’s down to distribution and availability, but in well over a decade now,  Signatory has been available, affordable and delivered quality. In all those years, I had exactly  one dud from them (a rather poor quality early 1990’s Ledaig), and safe to say there have been dozens of Signatory bottlings that found their way into my cabinet.

Signtaory has been around for almost 40 years, so in that regard it feels as if it’s ‘due time’  we now have what can be seen as a house style, signature expression, a whisky bearing the name of the man behind the whole endeavour.  And while this says ‘blended’ on the label, I’m given to understand that it’s a 50-50 blend of grain from North British (probably bringing in the bourbon barrels) with malt from Edrington (obviously) and some Ben Nevis from sherry (PX) casks as well.

Nose

Damn! Absolutely lovely! A slightly waxy-polish like sweetness, mixed in with some dense fruit notes, tropical wood, orchard syrup, hints of toffee and sweet citrus and oranges. It also has this gentle creamy – lactic note which is subtle but is integrated really wonderfully well into all the other stuff that’s going on.

Palate

Sweet and fruity with berries and plums. Spices (sweet baking spices) leaning into a soft woody bitterness. Perhaps the mouthfeel is a bit thin and overall it’s more straightforward compared to the nose, but let’s be honest: that was punching (way) above its weight in any case. This is a very nice, plain good and very enjoyable sipping whisky.

Finish

Quite long, warming on spices and a bit dry.

Final thoughts:

The nose on this one is excellent! It delivers a spot on combo of lightness and intensity as the bourbon barrels and sherry casks are working wonderfully well together. Crowdpleaser stuff right there. And while all of that goodness doesn’t transfer fully onto the palate imo, it takes little away from what is a very enjoyable whisky. Take into consideration the price and this really is a no brainer. Dramface recently went as high as scoring this a 7/10 (which means ‘very good whisky’), and while I get that high praise and I feel it merits that, it might, imo, also be just a tad flattering as this is just plain good. The ‘very’ good comes into play when calculating in quality to price ratio I reckon.  So to conclude, if you’re looking for a  very pleasant everyday sipper, or just want something you could gift to basically anyone even remotely interested in whisky without making a big dent into your wallet: the words ‘le voila’ spring to mind. It doesn’t need to rock my world to be in my good books. This one delivers: excellent nose, pleasant on the palate and very easy on the wallet. Arguably already one of the best ‘bang for buck’ whiskies of the year!