Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

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. Palate: Flabbier and lighter than I'd have expected from the nose. Similar base, honey, wood, lemon and non-sour kumquats. Salted vanilla ice cream (woohoo!) and maybe chocolate malt. The wood creates this great mushroom and earthy strand, and then helps to tighten up the flavors at the mid-palate.

Sitting atop last year’s revamped Highland Park core line is their 18 Year Old single malt. There are older expressions from this Orkney distillery, of course, but they weren’t included in the Viking-themed revamp.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. Highland Park 18 has a bit more depth in the smokiness when compared to the 12 year old. It also has very much character and for 18 year old whisky, it's surprisingly sharp, especially in the finish.

Last week I went to The Scottish Arms in St. Louis Missouri. If you've never been, go. Now. More than 150 drams (Scottish, Japanese, American, you name it) on their whisky menu - amazing! Well, while I was there I tried the HP18 and all I could say was..."eh..." Palate: Buttery guava (or maybe papaya) enters with a touch of salty lemon. Transitions through a hay and cinders phase mid-palate, not excellent but interesting. Settles into a wonderful peach, as found in the nose. Ginger tingles with cashew and the peach, into the finish.

He added: “Some of our most outstanding single cask bottlings come from refill casks, as they have often previously held whisky for only a short period of time, so have much to give in subsequent maturation’’.

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! Finish: The finish repeated the palate very nicely, with a peppery, warming sensation gradually giving way to the light, fruit based, fresh feeling. Cinnamon and other spices linger in a medium to long, very smooth finish.The palate was a bit of a surprise, because it’s nothing like as heavy as the look of it suggested. Instead, it’s a light, silky liquid. The sweetness here reminded me a lot of a kind of jam I used to get in Portugal that was based on berries and called “Forest Fruits,” with notes of cookie spice and malty cereals and honey. Whatever smoke was in the scent is gone here too. Sweet with a slight burn, and some salinity. Hazelnuts and nougat. A nice wood presence, which is slightly drying and only bitter enough to prevent the whisky from becoming cloying.