Glenrothes 10 y.o. The Shining Dram, from butt, 52,9%

Comment: I call this a greenhouse dram. I am getting floral elements, linseeds, orchard fruit (pear, apple, cider), green grapes, tomato plants, wet malt, pistachio, lemon zest and white pepper. All is in balance and a typical dram for ist age. Water opens it up a little more.

Score: 84

Glenrothes 20 y.o. The Shining Dram, from hogshead, 51,5%

Comment: This older version is wonderfully fruity (already esters of tropical fruits like passion fruit, but also orchard apple, Haribo’s sour apple rings and orange zest). There also is a fresh mintiness. The dram is a great combo between sour fruit elements and woody spices with vanilla. Although the oak is a bit loud, the oily mouthfeel and apricot fruit reward the drinker manifold.

Score: 87

Ben Nevis 19 y.o. The Shining Dram, from Bourbon hogshead, 48,6%

Comment: To start with, this is one of the most unusual drams I ever had, hence very Ben Nevis (which I like). Yes, an awkward mix awaited me but it is very interesting and mind-boggling. It will find its lovers and haters. The spectrum of aromas consists of hazelnut bush, cereals, mashy youthfulness, canned coffee milk, sheep stable and ewe’s cheese, fresh paint, coal, cocoa powder and Indian curried pickles. On the palate it is a wild ride in unusual terrain of old wooden planks, persipan, and all of the above. Cool yet crazy. Give it a try!

Score: 87

Auchroisk 24 y.o. The Shining Dram, from Bourbon hogshead, 43,5%

Comment: A summer breeze high in the Alps, this is the headline here, Fragile but so complex and lovely. Great balance and maturity, floral lightness, like a summer wind in a flower dress on an ‚Alm‘. We also have fruitiness (kiwi, strawberry, Austrian apricot), coconut, iron, grass and vanilla cream. Very elegant and a must-have for fans of this profile. Big sips recommended.

Score: 90+

Blended Malt 23 y.o. The Shining Dram, from sherry hogshead, 51,1%

Comment: X-Mas cake (‚Christstollen‘ soaked), very juicy – the sherry is perfectly integrated and not dry, which is rare at this high intensity. Rumtopf, raisins, figs, cherries, blackberries, cinnamon, orange zest, dark Wood – all in balance and full expression. Stunner!

Score: 90+

Orkney Single Malt 12 y.o. The Shining Dram, from hogshead, 50,6%

Comment: Give this one time and it will rock your world. Starts youthful and with great balance, then it becomes more mature. Mossy river, peaty Highland floor with heather, herbs, ozone, black pepper, juniper, sloe berry, hazelnut shrub, sweet malt, Turkish delight, white chocolate, litchi, kurkuma, olive oil and more. It tastes wonderful and manages to combine two worlds: lightness yet being heavily loaded with aromas. The malty sweetness and complexity in coastal style is breathtaking. Buy!

Score: 90

Caol Ila 10 y.o. The Shining Dram, from hogshead, 53,3%

Comment: A typical example, and a nice one too. Like a walk in a mediterranean olive grove with a glass of Islay Whisky. Oven fire gone out with spent coal, juniper, olives, resin, licorice, fishing boat (ropes, kelp, fish, seashell minerality, peat, ozone, green tea and Lemon chicken. On the palate it is well-balanced, spirit driven and naked, enticing! Flintiness joins in as well as a sweet oily maltiness. Pure Islay with finesse!

Score: 89

Overall, I am quite impressed with this debut. Well picked, Markus!

You can get these drams, prices and pictures on the website: www.theshiningdram.com

Highland Park 10 y.o. G&M Reserve, 15. June 1995 – 1. May 2006, Refill Sherry Hogshead 1329, 307 btl., 57,9%

Comment: Great maritime freshness and discrete sherry, also herbal (thyme, minty menthol) and softly smoky. There also are aromas of cole slaw, heather and turkish delight in the well-balanced mix. Some tasters found traces of ‚Gletscher Eis‘ drops, an old German sweet with the so called freshness of a glacier. Mmmh. Isn’t it lovely how whisky aromas conjure up childhood memories. On the palate there is a lot of natural caramel in company with the already mentioned notes. A long finish, really an allrounder with so much going on, Scotland in a glass. I just bought another bottle for 59.- Euro a month ago.

Score: 91–

Highland Park 11 y.o. The Maltman (Meadowside Blending), released 2012, 46%

sorry, not photo of bottle

Comment: Malty and fruity start, some leather, quite some vanilla and toffee, a nice spice-combo, coffee beans, apples, raspberry, candyfloss, good intensity yet very accessible. One for every kind of taste, I’d say. In the mouth this one performs like the great allrounder it promises to be with fruity glycerins and the maritime freshness. A classic Highland Park as it should be that finishes with traces of peat, heather and leather. Very typical too. Great stuff that screams for another pour.

Score: 89

Highland Park 11 y.o. Whisky-Doris 6.2000 – 01.2012, Bourbon Cask, 53,3%

Comment: Spicier and more leather than its predecessor at first. This requires more time to open up but then has more to tell. It becomes fruitier with each minute. Lead aromas are moss, hints of peat, apples, raspberries, ozone in seaspray and a beautiful American oak influence. Doris’s version has some extra depth to it, which I like. The spicy heat also translates into the palate and unfortunately shows less complexity there. Water broadens the profile by 100%. Good and satisfying finish with the peaty and spicy grip (but no king of balance). If you are into spice though, this is your choice. All these drams are on a high level.

Score: 88

Highland Park 11 y.o. Archives 2000, Bourbon Hogshead 800005, 129 btl., 50,9%

Comment: Not very different from the Whisky-Doris release, but it has more vanilla and reveals its secrets of fruit (raspberries and banana, mainly), spice and leather a bit earlier. There also are some pears, coal, white chocolate and milk coffee. By the way, white chocolate (maybe even with raspberries) goes very well with Highland Park whisky in general as a food pairing. The Archive babe tastes and finishes like it noses, all the way high class and very well balanced. No water needed. Adorable and very quaffable. Recommendation. I don’t know why some other tasters weren’t so fond of it.

Score: 90

Highland Park 11 y.o. Scotch Malt Whisky Society 10.1999, SMWS 4.155, first-fill Bourbon Barrel, 58,6%

Comment: This is the aromatic smoky one in the bunch – plus the American oak weighs in more intensely. A tad bit simpler and less complex than the others altogether. Moss, peppery spice, pear and leather are to be found right away again but the whole dram is a bit sharp and more zesty overall. Water helps this one a lot. On the palate, the herb brigade rides in, accompanied by captain peach (sorry for that!). A bit unusual. Smoky and spicy finish with some toffee and green apples.

Score: 87+

Highland Park 17 y.o. C&S Dram Collection 1994 – 2012, Hogshead 22046, 55,7%

Comment: Let’s see how the older brother behaves. Oh, he’s from the farm, or he smells like that at least. Completely different from the others, very leathery and full of  stable-smells, also very coastal. Old Ardbeg-like antiseptic moments with sulphur, smoke, peat and dirty tires. Some lemony fruit, pepper, salt and dried hay as well. What an edge this has to it, wow!  No water here! I wouldn’t have guessed this as HP-Sauce in a blind tasting, that is for sure. The palate also screams old style South Coast Islay with that magnificent peat, iodine and salt. Kenny, it isn’t funny to bottle an older Ardbeg as a Highland Park ! Seriously, this is definitely not typical for HP, but extremly good if you are into discrete and complex Islay drams with some phenols – plus you can fool your friends in a blind tasting. I score its quality, not its typicality, so the score is high. Mmmmh.

Score: 91

Highland Park 1970 – 2010 OB ‚Orcadian Vintage‘ 48,0%

Comment: A lesson in roundness, all is perfectly integrated, a  quite creamy-sweet dram lead by brighter fruits (pear, apricot) and (dried) flowers, toffee, turkish delight, Grand Marnier, a whiff of mint and Fino Sherry. Darn good, but very expensive.

Score: 92+

Highland Park 1971 – 2011 OB ‚Orcadian Vintage‘ 46,7%

Comment: Altogether quite similar to the 1970 in profile, but this one is more on herbs and heather/honey. Again I am getting the apricot and all that candyfloss jazz to be smelled at county fairs. This 1971 has a nicer oak influence but is a bit less complex than its predecessor from 1970. Anyway, great stuff.

Score: 92+

Highland Park 25 y.o. OB, 1980 – 2005, Single Sherry Cask 7363 for Germany, 55,5%

Nose: Where to start? At espresso, nougat, the earthy spice, the army of dark fruits (morello cherries, dates, prunes), at polished oak or the maritime freshness? Mmh, let me just mention the single elements of this peacock’s tail of dark aromas. Hazelnuts, maritime freshness with a hint of peat, dry sherry, candyfloss and resin should not be forgotten therein. Wow!

Palate: Coffee bean in chocolate at first, then dark wood, tobacco and the Sherry-influence (dark dry fruit) take over, even with some sulphur of the good kind. All is dark and brooding in a full-on attack with spice. Water can (but doesn’t have to) be added, which brings out the fruit more.

Finish: Eternal! Tobacco and earthy peat meet dark wood and fruits. Like having a 100% chocolate with a fine Port.

Score: 91

Comment: This chewy and potent malt is not for beginners, really. It is like a powerful sports car that needs an experienced driver. Quite rare, that such a power house also has such high complexity. This amazing single cask HP-Sauce doesn’t fit every day, but if it does, it is a real stunner.

Tomorrow the German chapter of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society will present their new releases for Christmas time. Our friend Ralf Dänzer and I don’t want you to find any bad drams underneath the X-mas tree – that’s why he sent me some samples via the reindeer express yesterday. Blitzen looked kind of hammered, maybe it tried from the Port Charlotte .

As the most-wanted-distillery bottlings sell out quickly, I tasted them right away to give you a notion. Good luck in filling your stockings with these releases. I couldn’t find a bad one yet.

Highland Park 26 y.o. SMWS 4.151, 1984, Refill Sherry Butt, 53%

Comment: Quite spicy in the nose at first, the Sherry is talking loud and clearly,  then it smoothens out with maritime freshness and gets much rounder. Soft smoke, honey, Turkish delight, apples and cider, peaches, Werthers Original toffee, café au lait, nice dark wood and a spicy backbone of white pepper and chili. Nice but incomparable to the amazing palate. It drinks beautifully and is a dream of balance that still has power, the Sherry is well-integrated, heavy and light at the same time. Water makes it creamier and more accessible. Long finish.

Score: 90

Clynelish 25 y.o. SMWS 26.71, 1984 – 2010, Refill Sherry Butt, 57,3%

Comment: Very typical Clynelish (apples, candlewax, tropical fruit, quince, maritime air with a hint of peat smoke and all that jazz) in the nose. A fine balance with the fruit as spearhead hits the palate, also vanilla now. A soft and fruity Clynelish with a medium finish. Water is not necessary but makes it a bit more spicy and interesting.

Score: 89

Laphroaig 20 y.o. SMWS 29.97, 10.1990 – 2011, Refill Sherry Butt, 608 btl., 59,1%

Comment: Tyrolian bacon and a red Passito, that’s what I would call it. Rooty peat, camphor, herbs, juniper, Stilton cheese, sulphur, dirty machine oil, and other unusual notes for a Laphroaig. The Sherry really changed the spirit to a great extent – into a profile not everybody likes (lost identity, lots of personality). The palate also is Sherry- and sulphur-dominated, gunpowder, roots, camphor, blue cheese again, not bad but different. It reminds me a bit of the 1974 Singatory Sherry bottling, but without the old Laphroaig characterstics. Really hard to judge…some will love this, some might call it flawed. I would have liked more Laphroaig in my glass but enjoyed the dram anyway.

Score 90+

Ardbeg 12 y.o. SMWS 33.97, 09.10.1997, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 55,5%

Comment: Recent Ardbegs from the Society were convincing and this is not an exception. It is a textbook example of an Ardbeg of that particular time, a really well-balanced one again. More old than new style in the nose but on the palate you discover, among typical Ardbeg characteristics, the newer notes of eucalypt, methol and cactus that came into the distillate after 1996 in general. Green Ardbeg so to speak – with a great finish.

Score: 90+

Caol Ila 10y.o. SMWS 53.147, 11.1999, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 66,6%

Comment: Very intense and herbal, big Islay power, flints, but it needs some drops of water to be tamed. No offnotes, simply great Caol Ila with depth. I recommend this for anyone who loves young South Coasters that do their job well.

Score: 91-

Port Charlotte 7 y.o. SMWS 127.11, 8.2003 – 2011, Refill Sherry Butt, 67,1%

Comment: Smells a bit like one of those PCs out of a Sherry Bloodtub, broodingly intense on rooty peat, camphor, herbs, tar, ox tail soup and Sherry. Blue cheese, dried flowers, moss, toffee, pepper and coffee complete the bouquet. You might not believe this, but it is drinkable at 67,1% without needing water. Anyway, it can swim too. The power on the mid-palate and the endless finish are ridiculous. Another stunner PC – how excellent will these monsters be with more maturity?

Score: 91+