THE HIGHAND PARK TASTING

Well we began with the independent bottlings, and as you are more than aware from reading my newsletters that I find this, along with Bowmore to be a most frustrating malt. They are just so hit and miss, and as you will see from the tasting of the distillery bottlings that they are as well, but for different reasons.

The first objective was to once and for all establish whether it really needs some Sherry in the mix to give it body and interest. So quality issues aside I believe that if the spirit is going to be filled into ex-Bourbon casks then to give some depth to what is essentially quite a honeyed and tropically flavoured spirit then first fill add the necessary bolstering to those flavours otherwise if the cask is too well used the spirit can seem a bit too limp, unless a modicum of peat is used.

With regard to the distillery bottlings I have often wondered whether the distillery keeps the best casks for itself, but the results of this tasting would indicate otherwise. Now this tasting was conducted by using 5cl minatures and well we all know that these can be often used to off load less than perfect spirit, but even so the 15 and 16 year old bottlings were serious poor quality. The 12 year old I’m still convinced is a great malt although this particular 5cl was not without a blemish, and as for the 21 the balance here was totally lacking and when water was added what little distillery character it had went south at a rapid rate of knots.

The same lack of balance is evident in the 25 year old as well, although to be honest it has been produced for those people that love big, leafy Oloroso drams and well I’m sorry but you could be drinking any old malt, in fact it to me had a resemblance to old Glengoyne. So that left the 18 year old, which to me is the pinnacle of Highland Park. The balance between cask and spirit is sublime and should appeal to those that like it sherried and those that like some elegance in their malts….. like me!

THE INDEPENDANTS

Highland Park 8 year old 40% – Gordon & Macphail’s Collection
Refill Sherry
Oh look some wet card and sweet malt, hang-on I thought we’d dispensed with Tobermory! It’s all a bit musty, dusty and alcoholic. At the centre of the aromas lies a touch of honey but it’s submerged under the layers of ick!
The palate is dry with a touch of honey and sweet barley sugar and that cardboardy edge. Very hot and alcoholic, which is surprising for its abv, but the spirit doesn’t have any depth to contain the alcohol.

As I suspected a drop of water tames the alcohol but shows up the brevity of the spirit – It definitely show’s its age.

Highland Park 1998 (11 year old) 46% – Dewar Rattray
(First reviewed in Newsletter No43 June 2010)
Bourbon Cask 5789
The nose is very sweet and it has become exceedingly tropical (which I don’t recall from my earlier tasting). A touch gristy with crystallised fruit, herbal-honey and plenty of caramel oak. The palate is pretty tropical like the nose – banana fritter springs to mind!. Again gristy with plenty of caramel/ butterscotch oak and honey. A touch short with some delightful spices and a hint of smoke on the finish.

Highland Park 1998 (12 year old) 57.8% – James MacArthur
(First revived in Newsletter No43 June 2010)
Bourbon Cask
Pungently fishy and briny with no shortage of alcohol. There is some pleasantly sweet fruit, which verges on the tropical, heather-honey, oak and dusty spices. Over time it gets a bit candied though.

The palate is oily and alcoholic. The wood is good but it is omnipresent and subdues the sweet honey. Not as fishy as the nose would suggest and finishes with a touch of smoke.

A drop of water makes the nose a bit winey, emphasising the sweet honey and tropical banana notes. The palate likewise is a tad sweeter and a touch sugary, still plenty of butterscotch oak and a hint of spices. A bit straightforward and over oaked.

Highland Park 1997 (12 year old) 50% – Raymond Armstrong
See previous tasting note

Highland Park 1995 (14 year old) 57.6% – Dewar Rattray
(First reviewed in Newsletter No39 Oct 2009)
Bourbon Cask 1479
According to my earlier notes I though it was quite peated but it seems more smoky than peaty now. It seems a bit young and vague with some tropical fruit. Quite sugary with a touch of vanilla oak and peppery notes.
Slightly oily with lots of wood, lots of alcohol and lots of candy. Later a touch of flambéed toffee banana. We didn’t add water because there wasn’t enough spirit left in the sample bottle!

Highland Park 1984 (23 year old) 50% – Old Malt Cask Bottling
Refill Sherry Butt 3805
A huge nose of mature honey and tropical fruit with the sherry cask sitting in the background. Gentle, even sensuous mango, guava and papuya mingle with the wood spices. Practically an unpeated nose and although showing the distillery tropical character it could be easily mistaken for a Spey.

Slightly oily, opening the a bucket load of honey and tropical fruit followed by sawdusty-barley and wood tannins towards the middle. The sherry influence is delicate and supporting. Lip smackingly good with an impression of gentle smoke in the finish. A very impressive dram.

A drop of water really opens up the nose a treat, showcasing the glorious depth of tropical fruit, drawing out a lovely citrus thread and a winey Sauvignon grassiness. On the palate it stirs the honey into life and it pretty much coats the mouth. Gently sweet now and still very long.

Highland Park 1968 (41 year old) 41.8% – Duncan Taylor Peerless
Bourbon Cask 3461
The nose is slightly high toned and cheesy to begin with, which was something I wasn’t expecting. Once poured it needs some time to settle down. First impressions now are that it is more like a heavily oaked Spey than a Highland Park. Yes there are some pleasant dried heather nuances but the oak is firmly in control. The cheesy note has now become more of a lanolin note and there is a touch of sugar coated herbal honey, which sort of offsets it. Nevertheless the dominant oak smells relatively fresh and not as mature as I would have expected, so I would assume that it has been re-racked at some stage.

The palate is gentle, oily with a light makula honey and sweet, fleshy citrus fruit. Not particularly coastal and initially the oak is not as intrusive as it is on the nose. The alcohol although relatively low still has a refreshing bite. It doesn’t take long for the oak to reassert itself with bitter tannins and hints of coffee, even though the gorgeous honey tries its best to wrap it up. It’s not particularly long, and one feels it’s pleasant enough for its age, but for £310 is pleasant good enough?

THE DISTILLERY BOTTLINGS

Highland Park 12 year old 40% – Distillery Bottling
It has to be said that the 12 year old has a pretty much complete nose, aside from the slightly butyric note! Slightly spicy and gristy, the delicate tropical fruit, melds wonderfully with the heather-honey and candied sweet sherry. There seems to be less of the tarry, fishy and coastal notes that I remember from a previous tasting many years ago, but I would still call this an absolutely banker!

The palate is soft and juicy, opening with the honey coated dried fruit and the sugary-sweet sherry. A myriad of tropical fruits arrive on the middle backed by a very pleasant Bourbon/ sherry wood combination and a hint of coastal smoke and brine. For a 40% bottling it packs quite an alcoholic punch, but it never becomes spirity. Lovely length.

Highland Park 15 year old 40% – Distillery Bottling
It has a very odd colour this one. A sort of murky olive oil colour.

It’s a bit of a brutish nose to be honest. Yes there is a huge amount of mature-ing honey…. And more….and more! With herbal nuances and a touch of coastal. However it lacks the complexity and dexterity of the 12 year old and the alcohol seems quite astringent and intrusive even though it’s only 40%.

Very dry on the palate. Again plenty of herbal honey and gristy spices, but like the nose it is rather straightforward and uncharming. It seems somewhat muted and the tropical fruit has an odd edge to it. Not quite cardboard but something not totally pleasant. Good length with again a very alcoholic finish.

Highland Park 16 year old 40% – Distillery Bottling
The aromas seem a lot more mature than the 15 year old. There’s no shortage of mature honey and big sweet sherry adding some coffee-spice. Rich, expansive and rounded with heathery notes and orange barley nuances.

The palate is lightly oiled and surprisingly a bit vague and watery. A bit over confected with some herbal-honey and toffee. To be honest the intensity gets off it’s butt and builds into an all to brief pleasant middle, which exhibits a slightly floral quality along with some chocolate malt before the alcohol kicks it all into touch. So there you have it – a vague start, an enjoyable middle and then looses the will to live at the end!

Highland Park 18 year old 43% – Distillery Bottling
An immense, expansive and hugely honeyed nose with citrus notes. This is a gorgeous vatting of Bourbon and Sherry casks. This seems to be the quintessential Highland Park; it has everything you want by the bucketful! Mature honey, heather, sugar dusted tropical fruit, banana, fig, chocolate and a soft smoky coastal embrace. Stunning!

The palate opens with chocolate and liquorice before moving off into the herbal honey stratosphere! Light smoke, citrus and mature tropical fruit combine brilliantly. Big and chewy on the middle with heather and gentle spices. The alcohol although higher than the other bottlings is so smooth and wonderfully integrated that there is definitely no need for water (in fact it’s a tad disappointing with water, which is why it was bottled at this strength). The interplay between the spirit and the various woods is stunning and the finish………..!!!

Highland Park 21 year old 47.5% – Distillery Bottling
From the nose I would guess that it is a 80/20% vatting of Sherry/ Bourbon casks, certainly the colour would suggest that, also there is a lot more wood on the nose, and that is the first thing that hits you. Not quite in the class of the 18yr, but there is still huge gobs of orange fruit, followed by uber sweet, thick honey, sherry spices and Oloroso leafiness.

The leafy sherry is in full swing on the palate with copious quantities of tannins and alcohol. Some mature tropical fruit and honey flavours tries there hardest to break through but ultimately it has to surrender to the constraining tannins and alcohol.

With water the nose really begins to loose all sense of character (the orange fruit and honey have well and truly headed south, sounding the retreat!) and ramps up the sherry. On the palate it is a lot simpler now and more confected. After the 18 year old this is a major disappointment.

Highland Park 25 year old 48.1% – Distillery Bottling
Apparently 50% of the spirit was matured in first fill Oloroso casks. Well it might as well have been 100% to be honest!! The nose is exceedingly woody and dry. What little wonderfully mature tropical fruit is pounded into submission. In fact this reminds me of old Glengoyne in its dried fruit and nuttiness. The wood is far too aggressive for the spirit. I know sherry cask lovers would kill for this but for me the balance and elegance of say the 18 year old is sadly lacking here.

Quite oily on the palate. Like the nose there is a mountain of sherry wood which accounts for all of the flavours – caramelised nuts and spices. Add to that the rampant, mouth watering alcohol and the bitterness from the oak and it’s a pretty dry old affair.

Water doesn’t really make any difference to the either the nose or the palate, maybe brining out a touch of lazy smoke and a faint cardboardy note. So with a price tag of 160 odd quid in my opinion it is a seriously disappointing dram!

DISAPOINTING BOTTLING OF THE MONTH

Nikka Yoichi 20 year old 52%
Batch 16G14C
Quite a huge, high toned alcoholic nose of Oloroso sherry and ‘quelle horreur’ a stinky struck match heads sulphur note!!! What is this doing here?? And on the 2009 World Whisky of the Year??? Scandalous! Yes, there is a serious depth of cinnamon coated orange fruit, dark malt, demarara sugar, dried figs, and walnuts, but there’s no escaping the ruinous sulphur! I have to say that the nose on the 15 year old is considerably better.