Three undisclosed Highland Park bottlings at this time. The primary is a brand-new launch from Wu Dram Clan, the fifth bottling of their Lighthouse sequence. Then we have now two bottlings from final yr, one by Watt Whisky and the opposite one by Oxhead Whisky in Singapore.
A Secret Orkney 16 yo 2006 (48,2%, Wu Dram Clan ‘Lighthouse’ 2022, hogshead, 150 btl.)
Nostril: husks and grist, with chalky notes, peanut oil and damp clay. Inexperienced apple and lemon juice. Flour, ink and porridge. Barely yeasty, with sea spray and hints of recent laundry as properly. Easy and bare, with a touch of austerity.
Mouth: a recent combo of lemon, grapefruit and lime, albeit barely sweeter than anticipated. Later extra chalky notes and paraffin, mineral oils, a touch of weissbier and muesli. Tiny drops of natural extracts and brine.
End: fairly lengthy, zesty and inexperienced, with salt and paraffin in addition to a touch of heat smoke in the long run.
A very clear, chisseled model of Highland Park. We will’t be towards this sort of expression. Merely prime quality. Offered out now – solely obtainable to Wu Dram Clan publication subscribers anyway.
An Orkney Distillery 8 yo 2012 (57,1%, Watt Whisky 2021, hogshead, 392 btl.)
Nostril: rounder and sweeter, with some white Haribo sweet, pastry and shortbread. Hints of unripe pineapple, banana ice cream and honey. Vanilla within the background. Much less typical. There’s nonetheless a coastal ingredient and a few yeasty dough nevertheless it appears the cask had extra to say than within the Wu Dram bottling, even at half the age.
Mouth: extra distillery character now. Some briney notes and seaweed, candy grapefruit and orange, in addition to ginger and white pepper. Later the (inexperienced) bananas return, now with a touch of coconut too. Drops of honey over muesli.
End: medium size, with leafy notes, mint, ginger and whiffs of smoke.
After the 2006 this leaves a younger and pretty candy impression, nevertheless it’s already very pleasing at this age. A pleasant every day dram. Nonetheless obtainable from The Whisky Change as an example. Rating: 85/100
Secret Orkney 16 yo 2005 (58%, Oxhead Whisky ‘Dram-Addicts’ 2021, refill hogshead #7, 261 btl.)
Nostril: begins with hints of unlit matchstick heads, assuming it’s a sherry hogshead. Then there’s candy lemon and melon, in addition to the anticipated chalky notes and heather honey. Hints of sourdough and Fino as properly. Later dusty baking spice seems (nutmeg, ginger). Barely richer than the opposite two.
Mouth: a barely sharp arrival, the wooden spice grows greater now (pepper, ginger, salt too), additional amplified by liquorice, chalky notes and lemons. Additionally lime and orange marmalade. Salted caramel and leafy notes continue to grow within the background.
End: fairly lengthy and spicy, with briny hints, extra of the salted caramel and a touch of bruised apple.
By including a little bit of sherry that is getting nearer to the ‘official’ Highland Park character. Some agency oak spice comes as a part of the bundle. Rating: 87/100
