Secret Orkney Distillery 2005 12 Year (The Maltman)

Up until now, I've been hesitant to explore independent bottlings. Standard brands seem to offer more assurance in quality and availability. A friend agreed about availability but found the quality guarantee debatable in some instances. He invited me to a small, private event to sample several bottlings, mostly limited releases and small batches. I focused on peated whiskies and, since I was driving, limited myself to two drams (though I received a third taste for free). The first dram was bottled by The Maltman, featuring a distillate from an undisclosed 'secret' Orkney Distillery – clearly Highland Park. I've had Highland Parks before and found them good, but some say they don't compare to the brand's superb older releases. More recent marketing bottles seem to prioritize packaging over content. Fortunately, according to the event host, excellent bottlings from independent bottlers are still available occasionally. This 12-year-old liquid matured in a Sherry Hogshead barrel and, being a single cask release, has only 391 bottles available. It's non-chill filtered and uncolored, with an impressive dark gold-orange color (officially, I'd describe it as 'chestnut oloroso sherry 1.2'). The sherry influence was quite noticeable. On the nose, there's not much peat, but sherry notes are joined by sea influences and fruits. The first sip immediately reveals some moderate smoke and peat alongside the initial sherry and nuts, followed moments later by raisins and dried fruit, with a hint of sweet coffee and dark (salted?) chocolate. The aftertaste lingers for a good while, starting fruity and slowly transitioning to coffee-chocolate. This dram truly delivers from bottle to glass. It's full and balanced, and while quite complex, it's very easy to drink. A solid 4 stars from me!