Category: Highland Park

Style: Sherry, Malty and Complex

Nose:

Begins with a classic sherry dunnage signature – Heavy sherry carrying a dusky-musky tone. A match was struck somewhere afar, strawberry jam with light raspberry cream on top, dedemara sugar, salty toffee shrouded by a musky fragrance, while smoke rolling under. Floral notes diffuse in and elevate the weight of the sluggish red fruits, the sherry gradually finds its acidic edge, sour plums, mashed berries combine the spice to hit a high tone towards the end.

Palate:

The Sherry dunnage theme continues, the sherry is re-tuned and become more expressive on the palate. Crystallised plums and red fruits fizzled with peppermint soda, sooty peat, hmmm, there is a certain “dirtiness” to it, a little bit like Ledaig. The dusty-muskiness slowly developing into some form of umami here. Mushrooms and kelp aligning with strawberry pop tarts… Weird, isn’t it? But somehow it works. Almond-malt kicks in at the back, the floral tone comes in again to give another lifting touch to it.

Finish:

Strawberry eclairs showing more creaminess and red fruits more clarity. A touch of tobacco smoke lingering till the end, yum yum.

Thoughts:

Wow, what a bold, complex, heavily sherried Highland Park, less than three weeks and I have already drunk half of it… Well, it is that good, really. Under the gigantic sherry shell lies numerous dimensions – whether it be the malt, peat, distillate or the cask, all have formed distinctive characters which makes you feel there is so much happening at micro-level, but somehow, each of finds its place to accommodate one another in this expression and whip up such a spell-binding expression. Top, top dram. Very close to three stars.

☆☆[Highly Recommended]

[52% | Independent Bottling | Single Cask | 266 of 545 Bottles | Cask Number: 15086 | 1991 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Matured in a Sherry Butt | **+]

-Esmond

Style: Sweet, Delicate and Complex

Nose:

Menthol spearhead, heather honey flowing in beautifully. Floral confectioneries, a light vanilla brush over the malt. Gentle fragrance and peppermint brimming nicely with peat purring softly. White pepper dust, nutmeg and even a touch of chai. Delicate and complex, amazing aroma.

Palate:

More delicate floral sweetness continues to roll in, followed by some lightly baked apricots, green apples, oat, honey wax, fresh-cut grass with a lavender (not soapy) overtone. Meanwhile there is a loose maritime peat underlayer lingering. Heading towards the back, We have some white pepper carefully sprinkled around the tannins, a mini-burst of tropical fruits, vanilla cream, barley gradually emerges, cloves with just a touch of soot to finish.

Finish:

Fruits compote, one final brush of vanilla, a nice honeyed finish.

Thoughts:

Another Highland Park at its top form, all the elements – floral notes, malt, smoke and fruits – are softened, levitated and delicately woven together. Such a classic, beautifully-matured, distillate-driven expression. Although I wish the cask can be a tad stronger to round off the expression, but well, perfection doesn’t come everyday. What an exceptional dram.

☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

[49.7% | Independent Bottling | 1988 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Single Cask | Cask Strength | Cask Number: 755 | Bottle number: 176 of 220 | Matured in a Hogshead | **+]

-Esmond

Style: Sweet and Complex

Nose:

Soothing, aromatic notes of fresh apples, honeydew and apricots, heather honey dripping lightly onto pine cones. Red fruits, a delicate but vibrant floral core builds up with a gentle, smoky kiss. Mmmm, all the signs of a good Highland Park… Lemon peel and peppermint edges, which is rounded off with stewed tropical fruits and marzipan, mineral and maritime signatures to give an extra depth. Very nice.

Palate:

What a lustrous and silky entrance, honeyed stone fruits, citrus, lavender and tobacco leaves knitting nicely together. More heather honey, tropical fruits sitting on top of molten dark-milk chocolate. Pine and green herbs honing the spicy edge, then we have wood shavings, malt biscuits all underlined with a coastal, tarry peat.

Finish:

The tone sinks deeper – chocolate milkshake, Mocha, McVitie’s, more tobacco leaves and finish with subtle hints of tropical fruits.

Thoughts:

Wow, what a dram, it has been a while but I am still impressed by the magnitude of this whisky. Effortless texture, vibrant vibe and immensely complex, all arranged in such a harmonic and coherent way. Excellent stuff, certainly the best of the Valhalla series by a mile.

☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

[48.7% / Original Bottle / Limited Edition / 2013 Bottled / Non Chill Filtered / **]

-Esmond

Style: Green Fruits, Oaky and Spicy

Nose:

Peppermint arrowhead stringing a thin thread of lemon honey heather behind. Raw but reasonably fragrant tropical fruits, followed by an unexpected blot of sooty peat. Once it opens up pineapple panna cotta gently dusted with icing sugar comes in focus. Black and white peppercorn, a light briny end to it.

Palate:

A rather white pepper driven start on the palate. Starfruits, oak-infused barley, green tropical fruits and lemon aloe vera jelly. Almost metallic at some point. Peat smoke churning lightly, sea salt, followed by a spicy spike, peppermint, chilli seeds and ginger shreds. Wood shavings, chocolate malt, it is surprisingly bitter. Minimal mango sweetness, chocolate malt and nutmeg to finish.

Finish:

More nutmeg, black and white pepper sprinkled all over guava and subtle fruity sweetness.

Thoughts:

A surprisingly green and spicy Highland Park here, plenty of oak as well. Not a usual HP which is generally less dry and juicer. I didn’t enjoy this profile too much, maybe I was wrong to presume the goddess of love have to be something sweet? But instead we got something on the other side of the spectrum. I guess it is a curve ball whisky that some might find it interesting. Borderline tick, maybe?

✓ [Recommended if you like the Style/ Distillery]

[51.2% / Original Bottling / 2014 Bottled / Cask Strength / Limited Edition / T-]

[46.2%・27 Years Old・Distilled in 1979・Bottled in 2006・Murray McDavid Bottling・Limited Release of 500 Bottles]

Nose:

Aged tea leaves and coffee cream, there is a certain vinegar inspired acidity with red wine tannins per the Syrah casks.  Towards the back end there is a hint of cream cheese.

Palate & Finish:

Fascinatingly sweet with Japanese strawberries drizzled in a balsamic vinegar reduction. The jammy theme is well carried, fairly much like a basket of forrest berries.

Lingering red fruits in the finish and again some wee cream cheese note in the background.

Thoughts:

I quite like this as a dessert digestiff type of dram, rather tasty traits from the casks led jammy vibe; though the dram is not all together, it’s lacking some coherence aside from the cask influence..

✓ [Recommended if you like the style/ distillery]

-Nicholas