HIGHLAND PARK ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF LONDON EDITION AS PART OF ITS SINGLE CASK SERIES – Scotch Whisky News
HIGHLAND PARK ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF LONDON EDITION
AS PART OF ITS SINGLE CASK SERIES
Orkney-based distillery Highland Park has unveiled its new Single Cask Release as part of its limited-edition Single Cask Series. The Highland Park London Edition will be available in the UK from 11th September at an RRP of £390, with an ABV of 58.5%.
The launch of the 18-year-old London Edition sees Highland Park release just 642 bottles from a specially chosen cask in one of its 23 stone warehouses. The whisky, distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2021, is a naturally light, elegant golden colour, matured in a refill sherry-seasoned European oak cask. The cask – #4627 – was hand selected by Master Whisky Maker Gordon Motion.
Fans of Highland Park should expect the brand’s signature earthy, smoky tones from the new release, allied to a deep, rounded nose spanning vanilla sponge, oak and nutmeg. Flavours of pears, aniseed and rich cedar wood mark the palate, with a gentle peaty note and lingering sweet spice.
With casks contributing up to 60% of the flavour of Highland Park’s whisky, the distillery works closely with Spanish bodegas to source the finest sherry-seasoned casks available. Sherry’s relatively low alcohol content means it takes less from the cask, leaving more elements to influence the flavour of whisky as it matures.
“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,” says Motion.
For the Single Cask Series, Motions says he is “looking for the exceptional – a unique aroma, an outstanding character or simply a superb example of Highland Park’s uniquely complex balance of flavours”. The cask he chose for the London Edition was marked out by its particular marriage of “diverse yet harmonious flavours”, he adds, via a palate that features notes of pear, vanilla, nutmeg and peat. “When it comes to whisky that’s matured for 18 years and 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.”
Highland Park whiskies are filled at approximately 63.5%, and during maturation they naturally lose some alcohol and water to evaporation, or the so-called Angels’ Share. As Motion points out, however, the flavours themselves intensify rather than evaporating. “By bottling at cask strength, we encourage whisky enthusiasts to experiment with adding water or ice to reach their preferred drinking strength and flavour,” he says.
To find out more about Highland Park visit: www.highlandparkwhisky.com
About the release of Highland Park Single Cask #4627 18-Year-Old London Edition
RRP: £390
ABV: 58.8%
Total production: 642 bottles
On sale date: 11th September 2023
Appearance: Elegant light golden colour
Tasting notes: Deep, rounded aromas of vanilla sponge, fresh Galia melon, oak, nutmeg and light peat tones. Flavours of pears, aniseed and rich cedar wood mark the palate, with a gentle peaty note sweeping through the mid-palate, finishing with a lingering sweet spice and woody character.
About Highland Park
We’ve been crafting our award-winning whisky at the Highland Park Distillery in Kirkwall, Orkney since 1798. Now, 225 years later, we are one of the ten oldest working distilleries in Scotland. Age, experience and respect for tradition may define our whisky but it’s Orkney that differentiates us. And it’s not just the influence of the finest sherry-seasoned oak casks on our whisky as it matures, it’s the salty sea winds that batter Orkney’s rugged coastlines, the intensely floral character of our treeless but heather-rich peat, and the fiercely independent Viking spirit that drives us. These are the elements that go, untamed, into our whisky-making to create a wild harmony of sweet-smoky flavours that is, uniquely, Highland Park.
About Edrington UK
Edrington UK is the UK’s number one whisky supplier, part of the global Edrington family and responsible for the UK sales, marketing and distribution of a portfolio of ultra-premium brands including The Macallan, Highland Park, The Glenrothes, The Famous Grouse, Naked Malt and Brugal. As a valued distribution partner of Beam Suntory, Edrington UK also represents many of its brands in the UK marketplace, such as Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Bowmore, Laphroaig, Courvoisier and The House of Suntory range of Japanese craft spirits.
