Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

N: there's kind of everything here. There's the (usual) pear and something a bit citrusy (green apples too). Lovely notes of butter and toffee. After a while, an olfactive "sturm und drang" shows up: mostly on dried and mature fruits, that in some way recall the big familiar lunches of our childhood, with the table full of flavorous fruit. Very very good. It was a golden amber color in the bottle. Nose of sweet toffee, brown sugar, ripe fruits in the front and hint of peat and some smokines . On the palate slight sherry, toffee, hint of butter scotch, more peat than the nose indicated, with a long smokey finish. Very good whisky indeed. It does everything very good with balance and finesse.

Orkney-based Highland Park has unveiled a new 18-year-old single cask whisky, bottled exclusively for The Single Malt Shop. The whisky has been drawn from an 18-year-old refill butt Taste tested and reviewed hand warmed in a 12 oz. snifter, neat over the course of at least 30 mins. Weather: chill in the air, rainy.The Spirits Business reported Monday that Highland Park unveiled its latest expression within the limited-release Single Cask Series: the 18 Year Old London Edition. Highland Park routinely use Oloroso Sherry casks to mature their spirit but what gives their spirits it's unique profile is the peat that they use. Orcadian peat, sourced locally, is predominately compressed herbacious plants and heather (unlike peat from farther south, which is partially formed with tree matter and/or seaweed). The peat character is mild, however, as only 20% of the mashbill comes from Highland Park’s own floor maltings (and of that, only half is peated). The rest is unpeated malt imported from the Scottish mainland Sure enough - this morning I woke up with a head pounder; not from too much alcohol consumption, but from what I gather is something that I didn't tolerate that may have been in the HP 18. Nose: Initially cool from the bottle, the dram really opens up with warming as red licorice turns to smooth anise, soft vanilla, seasoned oak fueling a smoldering story telling campfire.

The only explanation that I have for this phenomenom is the use of oak casks and the well known terminology of avoiding the situation of spending "too long in the wood". Actually, I should be thankful for finding this out in my own tatses, because 12 year olds are cheaper tahn 16 year olds. But as I said before, this is a very good whisky by itself. Just try the side by side test and you too may be surprised. This edition has been drawn from an 18-year-old refill butt, which is said by Motion to harness notes of “sweet, toasted oak, vanilla fudge ice cream, roasted almonds and violets’’ as “floral peat smoke, cinnamon bark and spiciness” linger afterwards. Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us. When it comes to whisky that has matured for 18 years or more, I have fewer casks to choose from, so those in our Single Cask Series are, quite simply, the most exceptional Highland Park casks available,” Motion said, according to The Spirits Business.More savoury than I remember it. Quite sweet on the nose but less so on the palate. This whisky is all about the development. Some bitter marmalade, grassy notes, dried fruits (but not sherried), a slight hint of ginger biscuits, a solvent note. On the nose, I am welcomed by orange blossom, lychee, cedar, and vanilla. The palette does not disappoint, with a full rich mouth feel complimented by sea salt caramel, white chocolate, nutmeg, cinnamon, peppercorn, and baked red apples. Finish: Peachy and nutty on the tongue; also buttery but more so in the throat; and gingery in the cheeks. No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. Nose: Salty sweetness, fruit, a bit of smoke and oak. I once read someone write salted butter, and I agree. Very well balanced and a good sign and representation of the taste.

Palate: Absolutely one of the most succulent drops I've ever had! The smoke was underlying but kept peaking it's head out and was balanced so well by the sweetness. Sherry notes but thankfully not overly so. The age come out a bit long vanilla oak notes and more sweet smoke. G-d damn, I'm in heaven! Try a side-by-side comparative tasting between HP12 and HP18. It's a great way to experience the differences of what a few more years can do to an already good whisky. The 18 year old is, in some ways, an embodiment of what Highland Park does. The Scotch industry doesn’t have too many distilleries that plant their feet squarely on both peated malt and Sherry cask aging, but Highland Park does, and what the now call Viking Pride is an aged example. The malt is lightly peated with Hobbister Moor peat, and the the recipe uses mostly Sherry seasoned, European oak cask-aged whisky. Viking Pride is bottled at 43% ABV. I'd heard really good things about this dram before buying, so I guess I'm ever so slightly disappointed. This is an excellent whisky, but it's not world-beatingly good (which is where I expected it to be). Don't get me wrong, I'll drink this any minute of any day (it's worth every bit of the 9 stars), but I was expecting it to give all of my out-and-out favourites a bit of a shake, and it doesn't quite reach that level. It has the perfect mix of sweet and savoury, but it's almost a bit too light for my taste. Mind you, we are in the dead of Winter here, and this might work better as a Summer dram - it is fairly light and easy to drink.

What next?

Balance: This is a wonderfully enjoyable expression and I now understand why HP markets the 5cl bottle "gift" of HP18 with the 75cl bottle of HP12. They are offering a higher "education" Nose: Peat, campfire smoke, swirling with fruit and sherry. I love it. A bit of saltiness there too, which is great. Quiet, but powerful. Balanced. We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets. The nose is a restrained, moderate one. It’s light, but not actually subtle. A Sherry-driven fruity sweetness of plums, raisins, apricots and peaches is accented by a hint of lavender and a touch of smoke that is more burning moss than heavy vegetal peat. The ABV seems a tad higher to me than the usual 43%, which is curious. Whisky from this bottle does better with a touch of water. I normally have never added water to HP 18 in the past.

The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh. A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Above five stars. Nose: The aromas take you on a trip around all of the whisky regions of Scotland. Speyside and the Lowland region were represented by a wide variety of fruit notes including peaches, apricots, and a candied aroma similar to maraschino cherries. These notes were gradually replaced by the Islands trademark notes of salt, pepper and brine, which were also mixed with a very slight note of smoke and peat, which is normally associated with Islay. The mixing of these heavier notes, albeit in lighter quantities, is something that I find common in Highland malts. A last minute emergence of apple cinnamon pie filling combined the fruit notes with the earthier components of the nose. A very complex nose that I spent over 15 minutes analyzing and enjoying.Nose: Sweet -n- salty are the first aromas that hit me. Smoke, and really nice peat notes. The subdued peat is complemented by the sea air on the nose. The sweet smoke is growing. Apples & pears: freshly sliced & sprinkled w/ cinnamon. Slight ginger? Rigmorole: Thank you so much for the tips on how long my investment will last. At the rate of one ounce per day sipped every single day, I have enough to last a whole year without buying anything else. Suddenly, what I have spent in the last month on all of this does not seem so bad, when I will have to make it last. One thing I can say from being a hard drinking Harley man is that single malts have the absolute lowest penalty the next day, whereas blends do not because of the crap that is added to reduce costs and increase profits. When I first started getting seriously into whisky about 10 years ago this was one of the 'must have' malts. It didn't disappoint.