Highland Park 11yo 1999 (58.6%, SMWS, First-fill barrel, 4.153, +/-2012)

On the nose it’s a little closed at first but soon opens up to reveal a little welcome smoke (like the first hint of a distant home fire) and then citrus and warm marzipan; everything is really quite sensational when taken together. There are also vague hints of some earthiness and a little bit of heather; all very good. The taste is actually quite gentle at first despite the high alcohol and the smoke comes through really well. However it shortly demands some water which tames it somewhat to reveals more of the marzipan sweetness and a little woodiness which appears in the form of some spiciness & coffee grounds. The finish is more of the smoke and some good hard candy as well as the citrus (lemons and limes but not orange but perhaps a moment or two of grapefruit). The finish is medium long and some hints of 90% cocoa chocolate emerges in the later moments but then the smoked malt re emerges.

Complex but stays within the Highland Park descriptors and an interesting variant to the official bottlings.

$100 and 150 bottles for the US branch of the Society.

Score 86 points

Part 2 of 4 featuring the excellent single cask single malts of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America. Samples kindly provided by the SMWS of A.

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at http://www.smwsa.com/ for further information on their single cask bottlings.