This year has seen no let-up in the release of highly desirable, limited-edition single malt whiskies that were originally distilled back in the 1990s, the 1980s, 1970s and even the late 1960s. Brummell explored the Bladnoch Samhla Collection recently – the Lowland distillery includes a single cask from 1966 that stretched to just 15 bottles! But there are limited-edition veterans that are proving oldies but goodies from all over Scotland and across the Irish Sea… 

Highland Park 54YO

(225 bottles at 46.9% ABV; £39,000)

Highland Park is a whisky apart… not least because of its location on the Orkney islands, north across the water from John O’Groats. The archipelago’s history includes six centuries, from 875 to 1482, under Norwegian rule. As a result, they still say ‘Skål’, not ‘Slàinte’, over a dram. The founder of Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall was one Magnus Eunson.

And it’s not only the culture that is different. Highland Park has its own floor maltings, a rarity for a distillery these days – and even more unusually, the barley is turned by hand as it germinates, then is dried by peat smoke. But the resulting whisky doesn’t have the same high-phenol, iodine smokiness of an Ardbeg or Laphroaig because the make-up of Orkney peat is largely sphagnum moss and heather, rather than the seaweed-rich peat on Islay. It comes out as more of a perfumed, incense smoke.

Highland Park has become one of the most collectible names in Scotch, not least because of its special editions. This release is the most special so far – the oldest ever. In 2008, Gordon Motion came across 10 particularly fragrant casks, distilled in 1968, before the master whisky maker was born. He decided to transfer the liquid into four sherry butts, to add the signature Highland Park rich fruit and spice notes, and let those mature for a further 14 years.

Fittingly, the oak box for each bottle is unique, handmade at John Galvin Studio. The Glasgow-based Irish designer’s wood craftsmanship for Dalmore, Macallan, Midleton Very Rare et al, brings a strong sense of place to each piece. The display case for Highland Park 54YO opens out to reveal strata of differently fired wood, resembling the sandstone striations of Orkney’s Yesnaby Cliffs.

Tasting notes: The whisky is rich, sweet and smooth but, provides a constantly evolving olfactory experience that is part Harrods perfume department and part Mediterranean kitchen. Camphor and distant heather burning give way to dry-fried spices and chopped herbs, along with sweet fruit and crushed pistachios on the palate, before providing a lingering fireside peat.

highlandparkwhisky.com

Loch Lomond Remarkable Stills 47YO

(200 bottles at 44.3% ABV; £5,750)

For many, if they know Loch Lomond single malt at all, it’s probably as a sponsor of The Open golf tournament. But it is also one of the most underrated and exciting distilleries in Scotland. The master blender, Ulsterman Michael Henry, is a quietly spoken genius. But he was certainly helped by a decision in 1965, when the distillery was built, to install some unusual – and, indeed, as the name of this, the last in a series of three releases, claims, remarkable – stills.

They are straight-necked, which tends to produce intense fruity flavours. But they have adjustable rectification plates in that neck, so reflux can be set at different levels – basically, every distillation is potentially different. Given that Henry distils peated, mildly peated and unpeated whiskies, and experiments with yeast strains and fermentation lengths, the possibilities are endless.

The whisky’s elegant grey wooden display box includes a copper panel representing these long-necked stills, but ultimately the emphasis is on the liquid.

Of course, Henry did not distil this 47YO single malt, but it is a great demonstration of the quality of Loch Lomond whiskies. It’s unpeated, and was aged for 43 years in refill American oak before Henry transferred it to second-fill oloroso casks for four years.

Tasting notes: There are explosions of orchard fruit – pear and peach, almost reminiscent of Irish pot-still whiskey – on the nose, along with nutmeg and other dry spices, plus fresh-baked petit beurre biscuits. This gives way to a tropical fruit salad with a caramel sauce and, finally, elderflower cordial notes.

lochlomondwhiskies.com

Glenrothes 42YO

(1,134 bottles at 43% ABV, £6,750)

When one hears the announcement that ‘Master whisky maker, Laura Rampling selected the spirit from just four casks that she judged to have reached a pinnacle of flavour,’ the chimp or limbic brain can leap towards the thought of ‘Ooh, what casks is she holding back for a later release?!’ The frontal lobes need to step in to appreciate this, the oldest expression ever released by the Speyside distillery.

Presented in a box featuring artwork inspired by the topography surrounding the distillery, it’s a highly complex expression of Glenrothes’ fruity single malt – known for its long fermentation before a punchy distillation, which produces a bold spirit but with high esters (tropical notes). These bright notes are then given spice and structure by exclusively sherry ageing. In this case, the spirit has aged for more than four decades in refill sherry casks.

Tasting notes: The power of Glenrothes’ new-make spirit, even way back then, led to a Rumble in the Jungle for which fruit will win the heavyweight title; apple peel fights with deeper Seville orange and dried apricots on the nose, before giving way to more tropical fruit on the palate. After all that sumptuousness, the dry-spicy finish is a surprise – with almost floral cardamom and coriander notes sneaking in.

theglenrothes.com

Singleton Epicurean Odyssey 40YO

(1,716 bottles at 45.9% ABV; £3,300)

Because Scots love to troll the English (and just about everyone else, but mainly the English) with their whisky names, the answer to the question, ‘Am I pronouncing Caol Ila/Dalwhinnie/Knockando et al correctly?’ is ‘No,’ no matter which syllable you stressed. Unfortunately, even when a simple-to-pronounce name comes up, there’s still a trap. The Singleton is not singular but a trio of different distilleries: The Singleton of Dufftown, The Singleton of Glendullan and The Singleton of Glen Ord.

This 40-year-old single malt is from Glen Ord, on the Black Isle, the peninsula north of Inverness. For years, Diageo reserved this liquid for the Far East (where perhaps its green, grassy notes make it a logical step from baijiu and similar spirits). But expect to see more aged Singletons strutting their stuff in Europe. This extraordinary bottling is the latest in the Singleton Epicurean Odyssey series.

One of the many projects the recently retired Master of Malt, Maureen Robinson ran in her 45 years in the whisky industry was The Singleton. She gained a reputation for experimentation, and this particular release has seen a lot of tinkering. It’s hard to track its journey – apparently regular 12YO Glen Ord (aged in refill American oak and refill European oak) then went on an almost 28-year journey through ex-rum, ex-bourbon, ex-oloroso and ex-PX casks. What we do know is that the final whisky was finished in Ron Zacapa casks and this decadent whisky has absorbed cultural influences from its travels in wood.

Tasting notes: There are tropical esters and a funky cellar-like rancio on the nose, behind coffee beans and citrus oils. On the tip of the tongue, there is a sweet herbal note reminiscent of spearmint chews, before the full richness envelops you; dark chocolate, dark candied fruits. There’s a hint of cask charring (not real smoke) and then a smooth rum and raisin finish.

diageorareandexceptional.com

Bushmills 30YO

(1,500 bottle in 2023 at 46% ABV, £1,990)

This stands apart from the rest of these long-aged single malts, not only because it is Irish whiskey, not Scotch whisky, but because this is an aged single malt that is not a one-off bottling. Of course, the numbers are limited. However this 30YO, along with a 25YO (matured in ex-sherry and -bourbon casks, before a minimum of 19 years in ruby port casks, 46% ABV, £790) is a permanent – or at least annual – addition to Bushmills’ single malt age statements, upping the ante from the current range of 10YO, 16YO and 21YO. (If yer da from Coleraine thinks Black Bush is the pinnacle of the Antrim distillery’s production, he’s a little out of touch.)

Bushmills’ owner Proximo Spirits (Jose Cuervo et al) has invested £60m in a new distillery next door to the Old Bushmills Distillery, close to the Giant’s Causeway – the 10 new pot stills will more than double capacity, allowing a long-term commitment to seriously aged single-malt whiskeys to take on their friends across the water.

The Bushmills 30YO is a huge crowd-pleaser. The makers took whiskey, aged for 14 years variously in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks, then vatted it to be finished for a stonking 16 years in casks which had previously held the rich, sweet sherry Pedro Ximénez.

Tasting notes: If you could bake a cake with autumn leaves, that would be the nose on this whiskey; sweet spices such as cloves join the treacle-pudding sweetness. The mouthfeel is almost as syrupy as a PX sherry itself, and marmalade-glazed madeleines join crème brûlée on the palate. The lengthy finish allows time for different fruit and spice notes to alert the taste buds over time.

bushmills.com