Time for Highland Park proper


December 13, 2023

Time for Highland Park proper

After, wait, exactly twenty-one secret Orkneys, I believe we should have a few proper, official ones and quite a few independent disclosed ones as well. Let's see how far we'll manage to go… We also have things to catch up on.

Magazine ad, 1985. Let's try this wee bottle today...

Highland Park 12 yo 'Viking Honour' (40%, OB, +/-2022)

A pretty un-Viking strength but I rather liked this baby last time I tried it, in 2019., even if I much preferred the fresher and cleaner '10'. Colour: light gold. Nose: really nice, pretty complex, meady and with some patchouli, a little incense, a little marmalade, touches of seafood (fresh mussels), some bread, earl grey, overripe apples, honey… All fine, it's just a little light on the nose. Mouth: good drop for sure, mentholated and liquoricy, with some walnuts and more ripe fruits that are kind of suppressing the tension that we usually like in HP. Not that it's flat, not at all, but it's a bit as if there's either too much sherry, or not enough. Finish: medium, earthier, sweeter, spicier. Mead, a little caramel, tarte tatin, walnut liqueur… Comment: same as last time. I tend to prefer them brighter and fresher, but naturally, it's a very fine drop. Mind you, it is Highland Park, part of our own 'axis of the good'. Plus, I'm not totally sure those 40% vol. do it justice.
SGP:561 - 83 points.

Highland Park 'Scottish ballet 50' (40%, OB, first fill sherry, 5,000 bottles, 2019)

This one was done to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Scottish Ballet. It is a little bizarre that they would have chosen such a light strength, but maybe the idea was to propose a featherlight HP, a kind of little opéra rat, as they say in Paris. Colour: light gold. Nose: almost same nose as that of the 12. No bad news indeed, but don't tell me they've made Vikings perform a ballet? Mouth: same feeling on the palate, it is a very similar juice, if not the very same juice. Finish: same. Perhaps a tad saltier, perhaps not. Comment: either I'm completely dulled, or it's a base extremely similar to that of the 12-year-old.
SGP:561 - 83 points.

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Deutz Import France, +/-1982)

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Deutz Import France, +/-1985)

These Highland Park 12-year-olds have long been considered one of the best deals you could get at auctions. Indeed, the whisky was often extraordinary, while these so-called 'silkscreened' or 'stencilled' bottles were rather common. There have been several versions, with the most recent featuring a 'normal H', like the one we have in our glass, whereas the previous version had only an ornate H, so to speak. The kind of micro-detail that matters to... collectors. Colour: gold. Nose: characterised by the proverbial heather honey, accompanied by a beautifully effective coastal smoke. It brings to mind a campfire on a beach. There were rumours that while the distillery malted its own barley, which it still does to some extent, it would throw handfuls of heather into the kiln, but we have never had written proof of this practice. Nevertheless, this nose has remained magnificent, with added touches of old copper coins, or an antique kettle if you prefer. Mouth: vegetal notes, leather, dead leaves join the mix, with a bit of bitterness, chlorophyll, bitter almonds, old white Burgundy wine... It's a sign of a certain evolution in the bottle, with heather honey that has over the years turned rather into mead. But of course, it remains absolutely excellent. Finish: medium length, still a bit vegetal for Highland Park, but without a 'taste of light'. An excellent orange marmalade then completes the picture. Comment: after so many years, the many remaining bottles have inevitably diverged depending on their storage conditions. The absence of light and a moderate heat span always represent the optimal ones.
SGP: 552 - 89 points.

Highland Park 10 yo 'Ambassador's Choice' (46%, OB, bourbon cask and oloroso, 3,000 bottles, +/-2013)

Imagine we've never tried this one but we're all for the HP tens and bourbon, even if this is only 70% bourbon and 30% oloroso. Nothing against oloroso. Colour: gold. Nose: nuts and a touch of varnish, cigars, fresh paint, pinesap, plasticine, candles, meadow honey… It is a little unusual. Mint tea, pack of old-school cigarettes (Senior Service, there), mead… It's not too easy to categorise. Mouth: the sherry's having the upper hand, I suppose the bourbon was refill (bourbon). Some wood and grass smoke, some green pepper, walnut skin, a very grassy oloroso (rather amontillado), some cinnamon and nutmeg, green wood… Finish: medium, salty, slightly bitter, with bitter almonds and more old walnuts. Bitter smoked citrus in the aftertaste. Comment: I'm not quite sure where to place this one, but it's very good, of course.
SGP:462 - 85 points.

Highland Park 11 yo 2010/2022 'Edition France' (64.4%, OB, refill hogshead, cask #2777, 322 bottles)

A very crazy strength, watch what could happen… Colour: amber. Nose: polishes have taken over. Metal polish, shoe polish, lanoline, carbolineum… Utterly love this pretty garage-y nose, but you just cannot further nose it without risking harm to your nostrils and olfactory bulb (bulbus olfactorius). So, sorry but with water: oh, salted tarte tatin, good fumes (Ferrari – ha), cigars, sandalwood, cedarwood, more shoe polish… Mouth (neat): rum at super-cask strength. I suppose it's the ethanol that's clouding our tongue receptors. Do they use multiple-columns at Highland Park? Of course they don't… With water: oh, perfect now, salty, tarry, with some olive oil, bitter oranges, many herbs, a little umami sauce, some smoked lemons, some pine ashes, cigar ashes… Finish: very long, towards orange liqueur. Comment: excellent, but they should sell it with a half-bottle of mineral water, but please not too soft. Don't even think about tasting it without water.
SGP:463 - 88 points.

Perhaps some older indies for a change…

Highland Park 9 yo 1989/1999 (50%, Coopers Choice, for France)

I'm not 100% sure but this may have been bottled for Auxil. These young malts by Coopers Choice / Vintage Mat Whisky Company are legendary. Just the mere mention of their young Port Ellens brings tears to my eyes… Colour: pale gold. Nose: oils of all kinds (sunflower, olive, engine, lamp) and a lot of hay and dried herbs of all kinds, including teas, chamomile, woodruff… You could add a little marrow, whelks, seaweed and bean curd. Wow. With water: chalk, limestone and marls. Mouth (neat): holy Suzy Creamcheese, this is some kind of millimetric lemon + chalk + oils combo that's just irresistible. With water: lemon bliss, chalk bliss, dough bliss… And a tiny touch of lavender which poses no problem. Finish: long and chalky as a good Pouilly (your pick). Lemongrass and a little seawater again in the aftertaste. Comment: pure crystals of HPness.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Back to the officials…

Highland Park 13 yo 2006/2019 'Saltire Edition 2' (43%, OB)

A collaboration with F1 driver David Coulthard. In Whiskyfun's private collection, we have a bottle of whisky given by David Coulthard to his team for Christmas, signed of course, but it's just a simple bottle of Ballantine's Finest. Classic David. Colour: gold. Nose: a pretty tropical one this time, pleasantly simpler, with mangos, oranges and bananas, then heather honey and liquorice. Very nice. Mouth: very nice and very good. Something a little old-school HP, with some mint, broth and bouillons, then these meads and honeys. Gets a little drier and narrower then, that must be the low strength. Finish: a tad short but good, no doubts. More heather honey, a little bouillon, a little seawater. Comment: I sure would have gone for petrol strength here, but the juice is good, very classic Williams G… I mean Highland Park. The decision to opt for a 43% alcohol content seems somewhat Scottish, if I may say so.
SGP:462 - 85 points.

Highland Park 25 yo 1997/2023 (49.6%, Royal Mile Whiskies, hogshead, cask #5293, 303 bottles)

It's rather rare that RMW's whiskies make it to Europe, but when they do, we're all in joy and awe. Now it really feels like absolutely no one wants to fight against this bloody Brexit, and meanwhile, things are not really getting any better overall, are they. Colour: pale gold. Nose: shoe polish in majesty, plus olive and grape pips oil, apple peel, teak oil, hessian, quinces, cigar ashes... But this is magnificent indeed. Mouth: we have a winner. Grapefruit skins, limestone, ueber-green tea, kippers, smoked mussels, green lemons, cucumber water, seawater, tar, mezcal… Finish: very long. A blend of seawater and lime juice, really. Oysters in the aftertaste. Do they have oyster farms on Orkney? Comment: some well-cut HP, absolutely flawless, like a Flawless diamond (FL grade). According to google (stealing someone else's content, naturally), less than 0.05% of all diamonds are Flawless.
SGP:562 - 92 points.

We'll be back for more HP…

Check the index of all Highland Park we've tasted so far