Captain Log, Day 5: After I managed to scrape off 20 points yesterday for correct region, IÂ hope to build upon it and maybe even have a successful day with a high score. This dram felt like a high proof young dram, but the region and distillery alluded me. I was torn between three optoins: a SMWS bottling from a Speyside distillery, a young Bladnoch from The whisky broker or maybe some weird Islands bottling (Arran or HP). Eventually I went for the Lowlands route. Not sure if it was the smart decision.
Update: Ugh 😦 I was so far off the mark and even high ABV guess was off and so, another zero pointer. I just can’t stop shaking my head at this weird dram. A 22 yo Highland Park that was distilled in 1992 and bottled December 2014 – it didn’t feel like a Highland park at all nor a sherry cask.
Cadenhead Highland Park 22 Year Old Sherry Cask (59.6%, 234 bottles, ~€173)
Nose: Freshly cut grass, sweet honey with sour edge, nutty, white pepper, limestone and chalk. with time: flowers and perfume, red fruit, stronger limestone/chalk. With water: fruitier, a lot of citrus and a tad more perfume.
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Nose: Initial nosing had a dirty note and subtle peat, grassy, green tomatoes and a dash of honey. On the second tasting it was less funky and had a diluted and mellowed wine’n’peat, dash of heather honey. vinegary, malty. 
Nose: Initial impression screams speyside! But we know it’s not a speysider, arggghhhh! At first it’s a bit spicy with ginger, nutty, sweet fruit (mostly red apples), a touch of red berries, toffee, dry and thin. Light honeycomb, oak wood spices. After it breaths for a while there are pink grapefruits, oranges with some soft perfume edge. With water: more grapefruits and sweeter and at last there’s some body here and it’s not so thin. 
Nose: Starts spicy with lots of ginger and honey. hints of peat and smoke. It’s a bit chewy and resinous and I feel dryness below the surface with dry, dark yet sweet honey and limestone/minerals. Slowly it gets fruity with red apples, pears, mild apricots and peaches and after a lot of time in the glass, red berries and a bit of chocolate. Further on: candied oranges. 
Nose: Bites and punchy, honey, fruits, quite heavy. After a minute or two there is peat and then smoke. With even more time it recedes and we get sweet fruity notes, stone fruits, almonds. 
Whisky Gospel 