Welcome to the world of Whisky, Pipe Dream. You've started off well, and clearly you're a man of refined taste! Highland Park is always a winner.

I actually met the guy behind the "Signatory" label, Andrew Symington, serendipitously last year. He made a fortune buying up barrels of "abandoned" Scotch, that is the inventories of the many distilleries that went belly up during the 80's, and repackaging them as rarities. They're not all classics, many are just single malts that are bred to be blended, but you sometimes find a gem. Your Highland Park is 20 years old now and no doubt a killer.

Symington is your typical, taciturn Scot. He took his profits and bought the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry, where I made his acquaintance one day. I had emailed before my arrival, to make sure that I could get the tour. The lady at the welcome wasn't aware of the situation, so she summoned over "the boss".

She explains my correspondence to him, whereupon he looks me in the eye with nary a whit of welcome or humor and says "I don't know anything about that. Go wait in the bar." That was that.

If you ever get a chance, Edradour has some fantastic custom casked whiskies, such as the "Barolo" and "Bordeaux". The basic Edradour isn't really to my liking, however.

Signatory