It’s Highland Park’s turn, back on WF


July 30, 2025

It’s Highland Park’s turn, back on WF

Careful now, there’ll be no Whitlaw, no Magnus’s Own Stuff, nor any Secret Orkney today, but we will have some soon… For now, let’s see what we’ve got under the proper label, chosen a bit at random for the sake of, shall we say, fun. Still, these Brownian sessions always end up falling into the right order in the end…

Highland Park ‘The Dolphins 2nd Release’ (40%, OB, 2018)

An expression that’s an officially licensed product for the Royal Navy Submarine Service. At a modest 40% vol., Her/His Majesty’s submariners aren’t exactly at risk of descending into delirium tremens mid-dive. Just jesting of course, though we do know that HP can gracefully handle very low strength and still shine, which isn’t something all malts can claim. Colour: pale gold. Nose: well then, it’s certainly very light, but far from unpleasant, rather it’s quite charming actually, with a whisper of faintly smoked hay and delicate honey, a splash of Bellini (Champagne with peach purée), the faintest demitasse of lapsang souchong, and a satchel of liquorice wood. Lovely nose, just exceedingly gentle, though not without a certain quiet complexity. Right. Mouth: the low strength does let it down somewhat, rather on the dry side, with the lapsang souchong suddenly pushing to the fore. Not quite what we were hoping for. Wee salty touches and a bite of toasted bread. Finish: short, nearly incidental. Comments: I dare say at 46% vol., this might have made quite the splash, but as it stands, it rather dives off into the depths due to a lack of… propulsion. The nose is a hundred times better than the palate, in my most humble opinion.
SGP:452 - 80 points.

Highland Park 21 yo ‘2024 Release’ (46%, OB)

This isn’t yet the new livery, the one that’s supposedly more ‘organic’. Quite the elaborate recipe all the same, as this baby was assembled from, and I quote, ‘48 casks: 25 first-fill, sherry-seasoned American oak quarter casks, 15 refill butts and 8 first-fill, sherry-seasoned European hogsheads, all hand-selected and laid down in 2001 and 2002’. Right then, let’s dive in. Colour: full gold. Nose: straightaway those hallmark notes of polish and honey (they say heather honey, though one’s not entirely certain) which are truly lovely, then we’re onto pecan pie drizzled with maple syrup. Delicate minty glimmers flicker in the background. A very attractive nose, not overly complex but distinctly ‘HP’. Mouth: there is peat here, and a drier profile than on the nose, more along the lines of chocolate, tobacco and black tea, with surprisingly restrained fruit, while the whole shifts steadily towards salted liquorice. Perhaps that’s the Viking edge of HP showing through. Finish: not particularly long but displaying charming notes of walnut cake. The aftertaste holds faint touches of gunpowder and artichoke, plus a whisper of violet sweet. Comments: not monumental, yet it’s still quite beautiful. We shall see whether the next batch veers towards the ‘fruit and honey’ side, presumably under that much-talked-about new label, ‘less Viking and more organic’ (my words).
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Highland Park 2013/2024 (65.5%, OB, Ten Years of the Highland Park Appreciation Society, first fill European oak sherry puncheon, cask #3655, 663 bottles)

At this strength, here’s an HP that could well take our heads off like Thor with his hammer. Yes, one does adjust to brand environments, as you can see… Colour: rich gold. Nose: maple syrup, maple syrup and maple syrup. That’ll be the strength at play. So, with water: the maple syrup remains front and centre, but we’re now joined by all manner of honey cakes, jams (apricot, mirabelle plum), and then, gradually, a growing smokiness, led as ever by its faithful emissary, lapsang souchong tea. Also flint, and a few puffs of brake pad. Mouth (neat): this seems excellent—smoky, candied, salty, smoky again, with some extreme grilled bacon… But we shan’t probe any further without adding water. With water: everything calms down a touch, thankfully. Chestnut jam, and even onion jam, then increasingly more ashes. One does wonder whether these ashes come from heavily charred casks (come on!) or from an especially peaty distillate. Or both, perhaps… Finish: long, rather on tobacco, leather, a hint of spent matches, and some candied orange peel. Comments: a bit of a brute, but we’re very fond of it. Many whisky lovers are ever so slightly masochistic, did you know?
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Since we’re already taking a bit of a beating...

Highland Park ‘Cask Strength Release No.4’ (64.3%, OB, 2023)

And bang, we’re behind again. In any case, it’s amusing, don’t you find that some brands seem to believe that as long as they’re bottling at very high strength, in the style of ‘farclas 105 back in its glory days, they can merrily abandon age statements? And ‘Robust and Intense’, that’s what the wee label says. No kidding… Colour: gold. Nose: the alcohol is quite prominent, naturally, but it’s much cleaner than the previous one, with far less smoke and rather more on cooked fruits, jams, soft honey, orange marmalade, sweet sherry (perhaps PX) and even a hint of patchouli… With water: it’s clean, ultimately rather easy, well balanced, on raisins, jams and roasted peanuts. Mouth (neat): ah indeed, rustic stuff, clearly very young, malty and blazing hot. Rather like moonshiner’s eau-de-vie from some forgotten valley where the state never sets foot ‘because they’ve neither the time nor the budget’. With water: quite nice! Sweet roots, spices, various honeys, and a gentle saline smokiness pushing through… Finish: lemon jam splashed with just a trace of pine liqueur takes the helm. The aftertaste stays faintly smoky and salty. Comments: we found batch #3 a bit middling (WF 83) but this #4 is clearly an improvement.
SGP:651 - 85 points.

Let’s move on to the indies, their casks are generally a bit cleaner…

Highland Park 19 yo 2004/20254 (54.7%, Duncan Taylor, Single Cask Collection, sherry cask, cask #50171094, 311 bottles)

Highland Park 19 yo 2004/2024 (54.7%, Duncan Taylor, Single Cask Collection, sherry cask, cask #50171094, 311 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: this one’s more mineral, more on chalk and crushed limestone, but also fresh bread, raisin rolls, brioche with sultanas… It feels almost like a more old-school HP than the recent OBs we’ve just tried. With water: chalk and clay marls after a summer thunderstorm (what?) then a fresh baguette at six in the morning. Mouth (neat): much tauter and more nervous than the OB C/S #4, lemony, on pink grapefruit, sharp riesling, lime, and ginger tonic… We’re huge fans of all that, let’s not pretend otherwise. With water: perfect—fresh yet full-bodied, with a very discreet and wonderfully elegant sherry, giving full expression to a distillate firmly driven by citrus. We’ve said it before, citrus—and honey—will save the world. Finish: long, flawless, precise, not a single off-note, and heading straight towards that most conclusive of flavours: beeswax. Comments: this is surprisingly excellent, though I’m not surprised. I know exactly what I mean. A magnificent cask, provided you let it breathe and find just the right amount of water.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Highland Park 2015/2024 (58.3%, Swell de Spirits, Pop’ Series, for Inter Caves France, first fill tawny porto butt, cask #560, 424 bottles)

Careful now, this is full maturation in a port cask, not just a cheap two-month finishing job (in French, ‘porto’ means ‘Port’). Colour: gold. Nose: I regret to inform you that the nose is magnificent, one even wonders whether this might have been an old white port cask from Niepoort or other good ones (S., they say tawny, t.a.w.n.y.) . Wild mirabelles and bergamots, then clover honey. With water: out come mineral elements, flint, crushed slate, and then bread dough. Mouth (neat): classic young HP, with all the usual attributes, citrusy and mineral tension, various honeys, peach skins, apple and pear peel, and then a burst of grey pepper suddenly taking charge… With water: everything falls into place, fine peat, citrus, precise honeys, soft spices, raisins… In fact, the gentler side of the port is now beginning to make itself known. Finish: as is often the case, it’s the dry notes (leather and tobacco) that bring balance and prevent it veering too far into jammy territory. Not that we have anything against jam. Comments: a round of hearty applause. Not even ten years old, mind you!
SGP:652 - 89 points.

Another young’un…

Highland Park 10 yo 2014/2024 (51.5%, The House of McCallum, Auld Alliance, bourbon and Margaux, cask #279, 343 bottles)

We assume this underwent a finishing in a Margaux cask, so red Bordeaux. There are indeed white Margaux wines, but they’re exceedingly rare and as yet not granted the Margaux blanc designation. That said, Médoc blanc is reportedly in the works… Colour: pale gold. Nose: no blackcurrant, no cherry, the Margaux keeps its distance, save for a few tell-tale green pepper notes typical of cabernet. The rest is quite attractive, with orange liqueur and those ‘mineral maritime citrus fruits’. A dash of barley syrup. With water: it turns more coastal and even medicinal. A faint touch of iodine tincture and a couple of small oysters. Mouth (neat): once again, the wine remains discreet, though there is some blood orange. Fruity brioche, panettone, marmalade, a few salty and earthy touches, and liquorice. With water: fresher, more lemony, and more saline. Finish: long and refreshing, with bitter almond notes. Tiny drops of seawater in the aftertaste. Comments: we went looking for the Margaux, but truth be told, it was well hidden. That may not be such a bad thing.
SGP:562 - 86 points.

Highland Park 18 yo (57.1%, Dràm Mor, 5th birthday release, refill hogshead, cask #3535, 292 bottles)

Is it pure affectation that they’ve chosen not to mention the vintage? We imagine so, and we rather like that. Colour: white wine. Nose: a lovely idea to draw from casks quite different to the usual official house style, here we’ve got a profile that’s very fresh, vertical, maritime, on sourdough bread, seaweed, grist, ground almonds, and cooked whelks… How delightful. With water: ink appears, along with a pile of books and magazines, then baker’s yeast. Someone really ought to establish an aroma conservatory, because at the rate things are going, soon everything will smell like plastic, cocaine and gunpowder (come on!) Mouth (neat): firm, powerful, candied, citric, salty, peaty, compact. Will that do? With water: as excellent as it gets, salty, fresh, maritime, like a plate of smoked cockles drizzled with lemon juice. Finish: fairly long, still fresh and saline. A truly coastal HP, splendidly austere into the bargain. Comments: who could possibly object to this style, which catapults you straight to the edge of the North Sea?
SGP:563 - 88 points.

I think one last wee dram will do for today…

Highland Park 18 yo 2006/2024 (59.2%, C. Dully Selection, bourbon hogshead, cask #3571, 232 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: the magic of true refill, close to the distillate, which makes perfect sense when you’re dealing with a superb make like HP. Top 5 material, without question. That said, it’s a discreet, sensitive nose—summer rain, foliage, I almost want to say cucumber—the very definition of aromatic understatement. A porcini carpaccio like the one I had at L’Ambroisie in Paris, one of my greatest gastronomic memories. But I digress. With water: fresh plaster, a rain-dampened wool jumper, and small cider apples. Mouth (neat): this time we’re close to newmake—you almost feel like there’s been little or no maturation over these 18 years. Unusual and utterly charming! But careful—it’s still 59.2% vol. Yup. With water: beautifully balanced, apple, pear, barley, green melon, faint ashes… Finish: fairly long, more on herbs. Artisanal kirsch in the aftertaste, and the finest kirsch belong among the greatest spirits on Earth! Comments: full of charm, but it’s an austere sort of charm, unadorned, natural, probably not one for ‘the neighbours’.
SGP:462 - 88 points.

Heads up, the ‘Secret Orkneys’ are coming soon, and I can tell you there are some real beasts among them. Stay tuned.

(Thank you, Jesper)

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