Milk & Honey 2021 Best Dram - 57.7%

With red fruit, honey and a gentle hint of heather smoke, this Highland Park reveals a fruit-driven, spicy character. The twelve year old single malt from Scotland's Orkney Islands shows a rich mahogany hue through the clear glass of the bottle. The 1st fill Burgundy barrique combines heather honey with peppery spice. This 12 year old single cask bottling invites you to savour it.

What begins as pure malted barley in the Scottish Highlands goes through a process here in which patience is the most important ingredient. Over seventeen years, in the stillness of the warehouse, this single malt has undergone a metamorphosis that lifts it far beyond its original profile and blurs the boundaries between the Scottish art of distilling and Italian winemaking culture. The 1st Fill Barolo barrique shapes this 17-year-old malt with dense berry notes. Discover its fascinating, wine-led complexity.

The first impression belongs to the nose. It is greeted here by a deep, dark fruitiness before the palate tells the story of 15 years of maturation in Spanish oak. This Linkwood from “The Old Friends” is a prime example of how a distinctive cask character and an elegant spirit base can merge into a harmonious whole. The first fill Ribera del Duero barrique shapes this 15-year-old Linkwood. Dark fruit and cocoa give it a seductive note.

This whisky is an invitation to connoisseurs who appreciate the tension between extreme smokiness and fruity complexity. The lovingly designed label featuring Hansel and Gretel is a metaphorical hint at the journey of flavour you embark on with this single cask. We recommend enjoying it neat or with a few drops of water to fully explore the many-layered nuances of the St. Estèphe wine cask. In this blended malt, peat smoke meets the fruit of first fill St. Estèphe barriques. Enjoy its maritime depth.

The distillery is located north of Port Askaig on the island of Islay, right on the Islay Sound. It was built in 1846 and, since 1974, has featured a completely rebuilt stillhouse that was expanded to include six stills. The distillery, which offers a wonderful view of the island of Jura, is now owned by Diageo. Caol Ila is a prime example of a “workhorse” distillery that primarily produces whisky for blends—in this case, for Johnnie Walker.

Founded in 1798, the Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands is Scotland's northernmost distillery. Thanks to its unique location—and specifically the Orkney peat, which differs significantly from Islay peat—the whisky possesses a distinctive flavor profile. One of its signature notes is the oft-cited "heather-honey sweetness." The water is drawn from a lower-lying source, Cattie Maggie's Quarry.

The 13-year-old Benrinnes 2010/2023 is characterised by tangy and sweet fruit notes from a first-fill Rivesaltes barrique.

Linkwood was founded in 1821 by Peter Brown and completely rebuilt in 1871 by his son William. It is located south of Elgin, surrounded by woods, close to the Lossie River, on a 4-hectare, park-like estate in Speyside. The water comes from springs at Loch Milbuis. Linkwood is now owned by Diageo.

The distillery is located in the small town of Keith on the banks of the River Isla, directly opposite Strathisla in Speyside. It was built by Chivas Brothers in 1957 on the site of a former grain mill and was the first distillery to be newly constructed since 1900. The distillery closed in 1999 but has been back in operation since 2013 under its current owner, Pernod Ricard.

Amrut, the most prominent Indian distillery in Bangalore, was founded in 1948 by Shri J.N. Radhakrishna. Amrut whiskey is made from Indian barley grown in the fields at the foot of the Himalayas. The water used comes from the same region. The aging process in oak barrels takes place at an elevation of 900 meters in Bangalore, India's "Garden City."

The Bunnahabhain distillery lies on the Sound of Islay at the north-eastern corner of the island, directly opposite the Isle of Jura. It is so remote that when it was built in 1881, a long and winding road down to the sea had to be built first. The water used for making the whisky, which is relatively low in peat for Islay, comes from an underground spring, the Margadale River. Until 2003 the distillery was owned by the descendants of its founders, Highland Distillers. The current owner is Burn Stewart Distillers.

This Ben Nevis was matured for over 13 years in a first-fill Tempranillo barrique and was bottled for the Old Friends series. The label on the bottle features the Wright brothers.