Highland Park Megasesh Half I

Highland Park 15 yo ‘Viking Coronary heart’ (44%, OB, 2021)
Color: pale gold. Nostril: one of many few official HPs that truly gravitates extra in direction of many of those ‘Orkney’ malts which are ubiquitous amongst right now’s indy bottlers. Which isn’t any unhealthy factor! Numerous contemporary cereals drizzled with heather honey, pebbles, pollens, sultanas, old skool shilling ales (a type of darkish, foamy and creamy bitter beer frequent in Scotland however extra standard in earlier many years) and in addition issues like leather-based and mineral oils. There’s additionally a robust impression of citrus rinds and coastal freshness working beneath that retains all the pieces energetic and buoyant. Mouth: the wooden feels a tad extra assertive up entrance, however there’s some good notes of bitter marmalade, blood orange, grapefruit pith, treacle and kumquat. Juicy, fairly fruity and with a properly balanced texture and weight within the mouth – the ABV feels fairly neatly chosen on this regard. End: medium, properly bitter, inexperienced herbs, dried flowers, leather-based, mineral oil and a wee kiss of heathery peat. Feedback: fairly an enthralling and fairly sensible new bottling I feel. A really properly balanced energy, numerous distillery character and intensely sippable. Primed and prepared to your tumbler I might say. Additionally, are ceramics again? Is {that a} factor as soon as extra?
SGP: 563 – 86 factors.

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Torino Import, -/+ 1990)
Color: orangey gold. Nostril: dusty waxes, pollens, comfortable natural peat, younger Armagnac, sultanas and a basic feeling of reasonably lusciously fruity previous fashion sherry. You may also add a number of drops of aged natural liqueurs, cough medicines and umami paste. Impeccable old skool Highland Park. Mouth: resinous, fruity and completely salty old skool sherry alongside natural Orkney peat, salted honey, fir wooden, natural liqueurs and cocktail bitters. Some acacia, wormwood and liquorice root too. Simply excellent! End: good size, on liquorice, heathery peat, fruity and reasonably nervous sherry, minerals, leather-based and medical ointments. Feedback: benchmark old skool HP. A library in a glass!
SGP: 653 – 91 factors.

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Ferarreto import, 1980)
This one comes from a reasonably outlandish presentation case with two branded tumblers and a certificates stating it was bottled in celebration of the newly re-branded official 12 12 months previous, dated 1980. I’ve tried an analogous one earlier than that will have been the identical batch (WF90) Color: amber. Nostril: a little bit of OBE at first, this sense of metallic polish and bouillon soup. Beneath than although there’s this gorgeous typical mixture of old skool, reasonably leafy and resiny sherry. Fir wooden, ointments, cough medicines and pure tar. Though, globally it isn’t as expressive or fruity because the Torino. Mouth: good arrival, reasonably spicy and on unique hardwood resins, camphor, tea tree oil and spiced figs. A mild peat with extra wooden resins, ointments, olive oil and cedar wooden cigar containers. It is wonderful however there’s nonetheless a little bit of OBE persisting. End: good size, very targeted on natural liqueurs and syrupy mentholated ointments now, cough mixtures, liquorice, wormwood, verbena and tobacco. Feedback: high notch, and fact be advised I would not be stunned if it was the identical batch because the final bottle I opened again on Orkney in 2017. This one most likely simply did not journey fairly as properly, these wee OBE touches forestall it from reaching 90 I would say.
SGP: 454 – 88 factors.

Orkney Single Malt 10 yo 2011/2021 (54%, Thompson Brothers, refill hogshead, 387 bottles)
Color: pale white wine. Nostril: sharp, pure and reasonably citric. Pebbles, chalk, crystalline and brittle peat smoke, some white pepper and sheep wool. Bish, bash, bosh. With water: turns into completely coastal, extra of those refined white flower and pollen notes, extra seaside wooden, seashells and touches of ink. Mouth: fairly impeccable distillate in plain wooden. Coal smoke, dried herbs, pebbles, sandalwood, chalk, white flowers and mineral oils. With water: turns into somewhat extra emphatic and oily in texture. A beautiful impression of smoked olive oil, touches of camphor, cod liver oil, miso and umami paste. End: lengthy, peppery, very refined threads of peat smoke, extra dried herbs and extra punchy umami and miso vibes. Feedback: you possibly can inform this cask was chosen by Ramen fanatics. No messing about right here, high notch younger fashionable HP.
SGP: 463 – 88 factors.

Orkney Single Malt 13 yo 2008/2021 (53.2%, Thompson Brothers, refill hogshead, 356 bottles)
Color: straw. Nostril: richer in fashion and somewhat extra dominated however herbal-accented smoke, coal embers, hessian, sandalwood, gorse flowers and wee touches of olive oil and putty. With water: mineral oils, seaside sand, pink sea salt, dried herbs and gauze. Mouth: natural cough syrup, smoked olive oil and light-weight smoked teas, pasta water, umami paste, seawater, lemon peel, verbena. Numerous refined coastal and medicinal issues occurring. Glorious as typical with these batches. With water: nice texture, properly medical, some camphor, bandages, seawater and herbs. End: lengthy, faintly smoky, sooty, natural and really contemporary. Feedback: these batches from humble hoggies or barrels are all high notch. The one concern is that, as a result of they have been vatted beforehand and re-casked by Edrington, they’re nonetheless similar to one another, so recognizing variations is usually a bit like panning for gold – or enjoying The place’s Wally.
SGP: 463 – 88 factors.

Secret Orkney 13 yo 2008/2021 (54.6%, Dram Mor, cask #137, Fijian rum end, 321 bottles)
Color: white wine. Nostril: I do not detect an excessive amount of rum initially, reasonably extra moist rocks, rope, hessian, crushed seashells, ink and clay. Numerous cloths and minerals primarily, which feels brilliant and fairly interesting. With water: some kind of sizzling vinyl and acrylic. Poster paints, printer toner and a few olive bread. Fairly humorous actually. Mouth: reasonably earthy and vegetal on arrival, some extra petrolic points, cough medicines, aniseed, lambic ales, plasticine. Undecided I might let you know what the rum is definitely doing, but it surely’s doing one thing that is for positive! (I am actually attempting for ‘most unhelpful tasting be aware of the 12 months’) Maybe there’s extra of an agave / cactus flesh vibe right here. With water: somewhat lighter, grassier, extra playful, some white flowers, pebbles and extra classical ‘Orkney Malt’ stuff. Extra cereals but in addition nonetheless some reasonably mechanical and oily touches. End: medium, on aniseed, seawater, clay, ointments and mineral salts. Feedback: It is a bit in every single place and I am not too positive about a few of these extra whacky plasticine notes, but it surely stays fairly enjoyable and no matter else this rum brings to the desk, it not less than would not completely dominate the dialog.
SGP: 462 – 83 factors. 

Highland Park 14 yo 2007 (54.3%, Girl Of The Glen, cask #800453, bourbon barrel, 214 bottles)
Color: straw. Nostril: a really contemporary nostril stuffed with candy coconut, cream soda, barley water, trampled ferns and, with a while, additionally some firmer underlying notes of hessian and olive oil. There’s additionally nonetheless a sense of coastal qualities about it, regardless of the evidently fairly lively cask. I am a fan! With water: issues like muesli, mustard powder, dried flowers, pebbles and bandages. Mouth: creamy, calmly grassy, some brittle smokiness, moist canvass, lemon barley water, hessian, cloves and ginger. Walks a really nice tight rope between cask and distillate character – however in the long run it stays fairly clearly some wonderful fashionable Highland Park. With water: at its finest now I might say, completely balanced between pure sweetness, barley sugars, hessian, coal smoke and mineral oil. End: good size, faintly peaty, peppery, sunflower oil, sandalwood and gorse. Feedback: but extra very wonderful fashionable Highland Park, the cask has a transparent voice right here but it surely has nothing however nice issues to say and provides a refreshing twist to this very acquainted profile. Really helpful!
SGP: 662 – 88 factors.

An Orkney 14 yo 2007/2021 (58.8%, Girl Of The Glen, refill hogshead and oloroso sherry end, 348 bottles)
Color: gold. Nostril: golden syrup, sultanas, gingerbread, honey cake and olive oil. Recent, candy and really approachable. A chic leafy and earth aspect that emerges with time, together with wee whiffs of eucalyptus oil and issues like camphor and myrtle. With water: lemon verbena, dried herbs, nori and soy sauce. Turns into fairly saline in that respect and properly umami. Mouth: the sherry affect is kind of forwards and gives the look of salted mead, liquorice, olive oil cake, heather flowers and bitter shilling ales. The robustness of the HP is an effective match for it I would say. With water: equally punchy salinity, leafy notes, tobacco, hessian, cocoa and a contact of wooden spice. End: good size, nonetheless fairly salty, umami, natural and with star anise and a few natural bitters. Feedback: an excellent and little doubt very sensible end, I simply favor the LOTG bourbon barrel HP above this one.
SGP: 562 – 86 factors.

Secret Orkney 13 yo 2007/2020 (56.1%, The Nectar of the Day by day Drams, sherry)
Color: ruby/mahogany. Nostril: punchy fashionable sherry with loads of hardwood shavings, black espresso, pecans, salted liquorice and issues like black olive tapenade and Bovril. The wooden is fairly lively but it surely’s fairly singular, clear and direct. I simply could not recognise a distillery behind it’s all I would say. With water: aniseed, pine resins, cough syrup, cherry throat lozenges and rosewood. Mouth: extra of those massive and quick impressions of hardwood resins, thuja wooden, unique spiced teas, jasmine and graphite oil. The wooden actually begins to turn out to be somewhat too punchy for me I’ve to say. With water: some juicer darkish fruit qualities similar to varied compotes and fruit loaf, but in addition some fairly bitter darkish chocolate and espresso notes too. Bullish tannins and black pepper giving a way of warmth. Some Nineteen Fifties Fernet Branca too. End: lengthy, tannic, natural, bitter chocolate, wooden spices and touches of leather-based. Feedback: the cask was somewhat too brutal and monolithic for me, however I’ve little doubt lovers of this contemporary and really spicy sherry fashion will lap this up.
SGP: 472 – 85 factors.

Highland Park 12 1/2 yo ‘The 26 Drammers’ (57.1%, OB ‘Viking Soul Cask’, cask #500118, sherry firkin, 54 bottles, 2019)
Who’re these 26 Drammers? Presumably they every get 2 bottles after which take part in some type of ingesting battle royale to determine who will get the 2 which are leftover out of 54? Color: gentle amber. Nostril: barely totally different to another casks on this sequence, I discover it leaner, extra earthy, extra mineral and with extra tertiary notes occurring. Tobacco leaf, recreation meats, tea tree oil, wooden resins and tiger balm. Excellent! In time it turns into a tad extra mentholated and fragrant. With water: extra wooden resins, inexperienced tea, verbena, eucalyptus and these persistent, barely jagged mineral touches. Mouth: reasonably creamy on arrival, furnishings polish, salted caramel, wooden resins, extra medicinal balms, natural teas, soot, camphor and treacle. Lively wooden however clear and well-integrated I would say. With water: cough medicines, wormwood, lanolin, tobacco leaf, salted liquorice and a wee contact of creamy vanilla. End: lengthy, properly resinous, barely salty, some recreation meats and lots balanced bitter herbs. Feedback: I suppose, if you’ll do a micro-exclusive official bottling similar to this for followers of your whisky, it had higher be good juice! I can’t lie, I reasonably get pleasure from these resinous and creamy profiles created by these wee firkins. Do they mature new make within the refills? They need to!
SGP: 563 – 88 factors.

Highland Park 14 yo ‘HPAS Danmark Version 2’ (55.8%, OB ‘Viking Soul Cask’, cask #500176, sherry firkin, 54 bottles, 2020)
Color: rosewood. Nostril: valuable hardwood resins, teak oil, furnishings polish and freshly sawn rosewood. Inhaling the within of a freshly constructed acoustic guitar. There’s some fruits as properly similar to traditional raisins and sultanas, additionally darkish chocolate sauce and a few reasonably fruity black espresso. It escapes the trimmings of being overly woody – up to now, anyway – by being reasonably scented and fragrant with all these resinous and polish notes. With water: fruit loaf, madeira cake, sticky gingerbread, cloves, incense. Feels reasonably extremely concentrated even with water. Mouth: lively however clear wooden with loads of spices, nutmeg, ginger, salted liquorice, espresso and umami paste. Incorporates extra notes of furnishings and boot polish, extra wooden resins and a few type of sticky spiced jam. With water: opens up somewhat extra right here, some strawberry wine, Belgian fruit beers, aniseed, natural cough medicines and a extra basic feeling of ‘Highland Parkness’. End: lengthy, extremely resinous, spiced fruit compote, damsons stewed in armagnac, bitter espresso and wooden spices. Feedback: let’s not child ourselves, it is a fairly wooden dominated dram, and I are inclined to favor the ‘lighter contact’ fashion of the 26 Drammers. However glimmers of HP do completely stay, and I might say this kind of wooden remedy is beginning to really feel very very similar to an ‘Edrington home fashion’ anyway. I’ve to say, I reasonably get pleasure from it, though it isn’t usually my most popular fashion. Now, let’s additionally not overlook that there have been a mere 54 bottles of this juice, so it is all fairly anecdotal anyway.
SGP: 572 – 87 factors.

Highland Park 14 yo ’26 Drammers #2′ (55.9%, OB ‘Viking Soul Cask’, cask #500171, sherry firkin, 56 bottles, 2020)
Let’s hold this temporary… Color: mahogany (why not?) Nostril: okay, really it isn’t an identikit sibling. This one’s somewhat tighter, leaner, extra slender and extra mineral. Some notes of boot polish, animal furs, marrow, espresso and extra of those spiced darkish fruits. Feels ever so barely more energizing and fewer on overtly lively wooden than the HPAS bottling. With water: extra aligned now, numerous wooden spices, resins, robust black teas, salted liquorice and star anise. Mouth: punchy, straight on black espresso, liquorice and star anise. Weighty, spicy and clear. With water: a notch fruitier, sizzling cross buns with cinnamon and singed raisins and sultanas. Hessian material and roof pitch. End: lengthy, barely tarry, bitterly natural, darkish chocolate and these ever-present wooden spices. Feedback: I could not let you know which of those 14yo variations I most popular, so I feel we’ll simply be boringly diplomatic. Though, as soon as once more, I feel the marginally much less lively firkins are extra my pace.
SGP: 572 – 87 factors.

Highland Park 14 yo ‘Mjolner’ (56.5%, OB, b2019, 1731 bottles, 2019)
A particular bottling solely out there by the Mjolner bars belonging to Australian firm The Speakeasy Group. Little question celebrating these infamous Viking raids of the Sydney harbour within the mid 800s. In reality Serge, I imagine they used French submarines, if I am not mistaken… Color: amber. Nostril: properly, whats up! A reasonably sticky and orangey sherry at first, gloopy bitter marmalade with coriander seed, marzipan, orgeat syrup, almond oil, fir wooden, pure tar and treacle sponge pudding. Splendidly dense, sticky and with a definite feeling of ‘responsible pleasure’. With water: orange oils, bergamot, lapsing souchong, hessian, cocoa and extra darkish grains. Mouth: the sherry is up entrance as soon as once more, numerous robust darkish tea, spicy darkish grained breads, stout beers, bitter chocolate, natural cocktail bitters, aniseed, cough drugs and wintergreen. In all probability a number of notches too tannic for me, which I discover fairly often with fashionable cask energy sherried HPs. Goes on with extra chocolate, leather-based and tobacco – very classical in that regard. With water: nonetheless reasonably punchy and focussed on bitter marmalade, natural extracts, pumpernickel, darkish chocolate with sea salt, umami paste and hessian. End: lengthy, fairly bitter, massive notes of robust black tea, raisins, tobacco leaf, extra marzipan and liquorice. Feedback: a beast that by no means fairly yields. There’s lots enjoyable available right here, and the sherry is clear, it is only a tad too tannic for me.
SGP: 473 – 86 factors.

A Fantastic Christmas Malt 16 yo (53.2%, The Whisky Change, 2200 bottles)
A mixture of a sherry butt and a few hogsheads of Highland Park apparently. Though, I ponder why the label says ‘Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky’ versus ‘Island’? Color: pale gold. Nostril: there is a particular sherry element right here with these preliminary notes of leather-based, fruit cake and golden syrup. I additionally discover some extra heathery and beery vibes which feels fairly Orcadian. Slightly eucalyptus and tobacco as properly. With water: boot polish, leather-based, hessian, chocolate and a few very slight menthol touches. Excellent. Mouth: feels peatier than anticipated on arrival, a beautiful mixture of extra old skool earthy and meaty sherry with lighter natural HP peat smoke. Extra leather-based, dried mint, heather ales, wee honeyed touches and a few treacle. I suppose it does really feel considerably Christmassy. With water: at its finest now I might say, properly earthy, umami, sooty and completely bitter with menthol tobacco, dried herbs and a few verbena. End: good size, sooty, barely minty, natural teas, hessian, cocoa and a slight mineral facet. Feedback: some intelligent cask mixing has occurred right here, feels just like the steadiness of sherry and HP peat has been struck properly.
SGP: 563 – 87 factors.