Highland Park Ice

Highland Park Ice is a limited (as opposed to to a regular continuing) release.

It's 17yo and is bottled at 53.9%

The bottle comes in this wooding casing, which I can only describe as a catastrophe designwise (It's fucking ugly), but as I never really cared about packaging I prefer to let the whisky speak for itself

The whisky is warm and prickly. A bit hot on the approach, but I really like the powerful vanilla note that instantly hits me.The nose is really wonderful, delicate ex-bourbon whisky with an abundanec of vanilla notes. The vanilla nose gives this whisky a sweet first impression. On the taste I get a prickly almost Talisker like spicy punch as the first impression. There is a nice underlaying level of peatyness, that always lure in the background. This is on a level that will satisfy both peatjunkies and people who normally stay away from peated whiskies

The finish is long, and some bitterness hits me in the end

A very nice dram, that will appeal to fans of coastal style whiskies (salty, vanilla, prickly i the keywords for this style)

Rating 86/100

A quick search on the internet I find this is priced at around 200£ which I think is at least 120£ too much. But you get a piece of wood with it.

Thanks to Holm & Bertung for the sample

6. December - Highland Park 25yo

After yesterdays detour - I just had to drink Glenfiddich, I am now back on the scheduled dram

6. Highland Park 25yo 50.7%

The nose is gentle and very sherried. At least relative to the two other Highland Parks I had this week. The palate reveals a heavily sherried Highland Park. Dark licorise, bitter almond and spicy wood on a layer of peat. Other might be more fan of this kind of sherry but personally I prefer the more balanced 12yo and 18yo, but this do score some intensity points

Rating 86/100

4. December Highland Park 18yo

Yesterdays 12yo was 40%, todays 18yo is 43%, does the 3% ABV really make a difference

It's very likely to!

This is pure speculating, but if I take this qualified example: The cask strength Highland Park 12yo was 55% before watered down and the 18yo was 52% before being watered down. This is totally made up by me, but I reckon it's a very realisitic example. In reality the ABV could have been different, similar and (unlikely though) higher for the 18yo.

But with these examples (I will spare you for the math): For every liter of whisky in the bottles approx. 27cl is added water for the 12yo and approx. 17cl is added water for the 18yo. Quite a lot, actually, in both examples, but also a remarkable difference.

One thumb rule is that alcoholpercentage goes down in the cask as the whisky matures (true for Scotland). Older whisky is weaker than younger whisky. Older watered down 40% whisky have less water added than a younger watered down 40% whisky!

Here is my opinion of the whisky

4. Highland Park 18yo 43%

The flavour profile of this is not far from yesterdays dram. But what you get is a more oily experience. Logical, as there should be less added water. As there is less water added, the concentration of "flavour molecules" is higher, The sherry is slightly more dominant. I pick up minty flavours as well. I get around the same amount of peatyness as in the 12yo. Again a well balanced sherry peaty whisky, and not as sweet as the 12yo- A great dram

Rating 89

Peatin' malt in 2007 at Highland Park

Off course its not just the ABV and added water that matters. Extra 6 years in cask and a different selection of cask types is also part of what makes this whisky what it is

3. December Highland Park 12yo

For the next few days I am going to Orkney, starting with a trio of OB's

3. Highland Park 12yo 40%

The nose is very sweet to the floral perfumy side. The palate is more in the same line kicking in with maltiness. Highland park is the Coca Cola of Malt Whiskies. Everybody likes it and many can't live without it. It's a very accesable malt, sweet and delicate, with a hint of peat - Highland Park mix very peated malt from their own floor maltings with "imported" malt, to get a lightly peated malt.

The light peat and the use of a high proportion of sherry casks results in a flavour intense entry malt, that has a lot more to offer than most other 12yo standard distillery bottlings.

The more I nose this the more I notice how sweet this is compared to other malts. The peat hits me on the palate, with a lot of woody spices incoming and a long finish for a product of this kind. I did experience quite a lot of batch differences of HP 12 and this one is surely one of the nicer versions I have tried. It's part of a 3-set 20cl bottlings that I stumbled upon on my mothers whiskyshelf... :-)

In a nutshell I find this very sweet but balanced as well in the participating flavours, with a very nice high intensity that is not usually expected from a 40% 12yo OB. The finish is intriguing with a lot of prickly wood spices lingering on your palate

Rating 88/100

Two Highland Park oldies from Duncan Taylor

It’s always interesting to try very old whiskies and discover layers of nuances lying there dreaming after all those years in a cask. Some of my best tasting experiences have emerged from tasting old stuff but some of my biggest disappointments have also come from oldies. Time to try a couple of old Highland Park’s from Duncan Taylor.

Highland Park 37 yo 05.1966/09.2003, Duncan Taylor Peerless, cask 4642, 169 bottles, 41.3%

Nose: dusty and moist cellar where different kind of berries are stored. A hint of exotic fruit – coconut and pineapple – in a combination with sweat and used socks.

Taste: Sweet wood, soft pineapple and rhubarb. In the finish I get apple pie, bitter wood and black tea.

Rating: 85

Highland Park 40 yo 28.03.1968/11.11.2008, Duncan Taylor Peerless, cask 3465, 177 bottles, 40.1%

Nose: Exotic mixture of fruits jumps in your face. Then some dried flowers (violets?), mothballs and mint leaves followed by cigarette tobacco.

Taste: Flowers, bitter chocolate, autumn leaves in the forest. The fruit seems on it’s way but suddenly stops like a car at a red traffic light. Only some juicy wood remains.

Rating: 84

Some interesting notes along the way in these old HP’s but the lack of oomph is prominent. I wonder how these old timers would have tasted if they had been bottled when they were 20-25 years old..

12 whiskybase whiskies in 4 hours

Long time whiskyfriend Ras Mazunga, and fellow PLOWED member likes to send me samples from his whiskybase.com shops own independent bottling label ARCHIVEs, some of which has been sitting on my shelf for some time now. I better do something about it. Normally I would only review 1 or 2 whisky at a time, but today I will do 12!!. A lot of puritans will shake their head on this, but this is in fact a great mirror of how I often drink whisky with friends, where we sit down and go through 20-30 drams and just have fun, and do some light comparisons between the drams

Ras filling our bourbon cask at Las Vegas Distillery

So this is a set of fast reviews where I will spread thoughts about these malts and compare them to each other.

1. Tomintoul 1969 42.4% 42yo
Sweet, fruity, candy, winegums, fruit drops gently replaced by a delicate sweet spicyness when the first nips are taken. This is exactly how you hope an old Tomintoul will taste. Rating 90

2. Glen Grant 1975 46.6% 36yo
Sweet, spicy, also candy again, which for is typical old Glen Grant. Similar in style to the Tomintoul, but more dry and oily, with a lot more spicy wood with a medicinal finish. Rating 88


3. Dailuaine 1983 47.3%  28yo
Very Oily, heavy in texture, classic malt whisky. Grassy oiliness oozes in the nose, and I find it remarkable how the oilyness hits you allready at the nose. Just a hint of woodspice. The remarkably oilyness continues for long in the finish Rating 86

4. Longmorn 1992 48.5%  19yo
After the Daluiane this is back to a more normal texture. Mint is the first thing that hits me, not intense, but more on the light side, still nice oilyness and this has a slight meaty texture as well. Rating 87

5. Imperial 1995 51.7%  16yo
Great Classic Imperial. Mint. Vanilla. This is sooo imprinted with these bourbon characteristics that I could describe this as a bourbon without the heavy wood and the sweet corn. What's left ?. Mint and vanilla. Simple. Great. Delicious. Rating 90


PS Many great Imperials "flooding" the market at the moment from bottlers like Gordon and MacPhail, OMC and Duncan Taylor. This is another one to mark up this relative unknown and unfortunately closed distillery.I'm a big fan of this relaxed simple vanila/mint/bourbon style

6. Glenrothes 1988 53.4% 23yo
Never been the biggest fan of Glenrothes. The 1991 OB was a big pleasuree to me though, and this reminds me of that. This actually tastes a bit like a mix of the Dailuaine and the Imperial!. Fullbodied, not a lot of vanilla and mint, but it's there. Rating 88


Allright, feeling slight intoxicated by now, brewed some coffee (Ethiopean beans off course), to clean my palate between drams. Still 6 drams to go


7. Littlemill 1988 49.3% 23yo
This is the 2nd Archives Littlemill and I really loved the first one, which was an unusual and weird malt malt whisky, but hey, isn't that the Littlemill in a nutshell ?
It's reviewed here : http://danishwhiskyblog.blogspot.dk/2012/03/whiskybase-part-ii-of-iii.html
This is the first "tainted" dram in the session. I wouldn't expect otherwise from Littlemill, which is almost always on the weird side in the world of whisky. Tainted is a hard word, cause there is nothing wrong with this dram, just a slight rubberness, but its my favourite kind of rubberness, it's the women in tight wet latex again. This is smooth velvet latex sherry cask and quite nice. Not very herbal opposed to the first bottling, more mainstream, but still the light fingerprint of Littlemill. Quite smooth and delicious actually. Rating 87


8. Glen Garioch 1990 54.0% 21yo
I always considered Glen Garioch recent bottlings to be somewhat on the rough side, and this is also a bit rougher compared to the 7 first drams, but not as much as expected. The first thing that hits me is the peat. Is Glen Garioch a peated malt or not?, it depends on the period it was distilled in. Around 1990 they for sure used considerable amounts of peat, at least enough for me to pick it up :-)
This Glen Garioch got quite a lot of peat (relatively) but is still very delicate highland whisky. Rather dry, medium woodspicy Rating 88


If you are looking for serious whiskyblogging I would stop reading now


9. Highland Park 2000 50.9% 11yo 
According to the whiskybase website this is 11½ years old. I thought only kids younger than 6 counted their age in ½ years :-)
I didn't describe colours of the drams before, so far most of the drams have been whiskycoloured. This one is far lighter in colour than any of the other drams. Highland Park is said to be heathery and this is exactly what I can taste from this dram right now. After 8 drams my palate is not in the best shape, but I reckon what I pickup is mainly differences from what else I had. HP is also supposed to be peaty, but being a peathead for many years I often find myself immune to peaty flacours, especially after a series of drams. The heather is here. The colour would suggest an immature whisky but is not so. It's rather delicate flowers and probably a good way to experience the true distillery character of Highland Park, not masked by Sherry casks. Well, some would say that sherry casks is part of the HP distillery character so maybe not..:-). First time in this session I feel the spirit of the whisky coming through (ethanol). This is very different to what HP offers itself via their OB's
Rating 83


10. Isle of Jura 1988 51.3% 24yo
What can be more scary than Isle of Jura ?. The OB line tends to scare away most whiskyentusiast, while at the same time being quite popular with people that are not every day whisky drinkers. I have similar views as the mainstream whisky entusiast on Isle of Jura, but I have to admit that some of their special releases have been very nice as well as a few independents. Lets see how this fare...
Some sour notes in the notes which I don't like, but my nose quite fast get used to it and a lot of fruityness emerges. But everytime I lift the glass back to my nose I get this (baby)puke. The palate is better, but still this offnote I dont really like in Jura. Cabbage ? Yuk. This will only appeal to Jura Fans. Admitted, there's a lot of good things going on in this malt, but a delicious sticky toffee pudding is never gonna taste good with sour parmesan cheese in top. Rating 70


I am getting pished now. I for surely how hope the last two whiskies are better


11. Ledaig 2004 61.9% 7yo
The youngster in this seesion. Ledaig often gives me same troubles as Jura. There's just this offnote I never liked (I usually refer to it as the tobermory-note, as this is where I experienced it first many years ago.)
This has got it just a little bit on the nose, but not much. The palate is a fullbodied malt whit great oily texture, but still with a sour ledaig youthness that I am no particular fan of. Well, if you drink a young whisky, expect it to taste like a young whisky. But do young whiskies have to taste sour. No. Rating 79


My hopes are now left on Laphroaig


12. Laphroaig 1998 54.2% 13½yo
After 10 and 11 this is pure whisky heaven :-). A well balanced peaty whisky. Not as floral as I find younger OB Laphroaigs, and this is exactly why IB Laphroaigs is my favourite to OB these years when it comes to 15 years or younger. This is a nice peaty Laphroaig, and if you are a peathead looking for great alternatives to OB islay releases this will not dissapoint you. Rating 87

Final comments :

Archives is an excellent independet bottler which easily matches OB's when it comes to Tomintoul, Laphroaig, Glenrothes and Glen Garioch and gives a good alternative when it comes to Highland Park. If you don't like Ledaig and Jura, Archives wont change your mind. For the more unknown distilleries expect top class whiskies

Alligator, Black Art, Thor and a Scapa

Last night I had a few drams at the Cockney Pub in Århus. Here's 4 short reviews

1. Higland Park Thor 16yo 52.1%

Nose: Light, fruity, apple-pears, a very plesant nose, but not typical Highland Park
Palate: Dark fruits, light peat, sligth rubber emerges from the initial lighter fruitness
Finish: Medium
A bit unbalanced, the slight rubber puts me off a bit
Norm Dam: "one of those whiskies you can give a lady instead of a cognac"

Rating 81

The two fellows in the bar, said I should have got the Black Art instead, Norm warned me and said it was just another ladies whisky. Let's see

2. Bruichladdich Black Art 21yo 1989 49.7%

Nose: Fruity and delicious
Palate: latex, again some sligt rubber, dried fruits, this whisky seems flat to me in the sense that it has no edges. This tastes like there has been several casks involved. Finishing tends to cut of edges. Very drinkable and balanced, but not really my style
Finish : Longer

Rating 83

3. Ardbeg Alligator 51.2%

Nose : Intrigueing nose, reminds me of Uigeadail actually. The complexity hits me, its clearly we are one step up from the prior whiskies. Peat and wood with a nice vanilla spicyness in the background
Palate: Peat and charcoal(light), This whisky feels round and balanced initially but
Finish : The youth is expressed with a slightly rough an roasted finish

Alligator has been matured on extra charred casks, which are named alligator casks throughout the industry as the charred wood looks like alligator skin. This extra charring is clearly present in this whisky which has a note of burned wood, most clearly present in the finish

Rating 86

4. Scapa McKillops Choice 1989 54.4%  14yo


I wasn't really gonna get a fourth, what can possible follow a heavily peated Ardbeg ?. But then I spotted this on the shelf which was whisky of the week. So I decided to relax with this, and I have to admit I wasn't that analytical drinking this. The young guy next to me, dressed up as a 2 meter tall green irish leprechaun, was going on about this Grand Marnier finished whisky he really liked but couldn't remember the name of. Maybe it was the Black Art :-).


Often Scapa is a somewhat anonymous dram, but this was rather pleasant with signs of maturing on a good cask. It was a combo of lighness and wood spicyness which I think was really well balanced and I really enjoyed this final dram before joining the didley-dees with a pint of Guiness (and a Jaipur..)

Rating 85

Highland Park vertical

Highland Park was one of my early favourites when starting out on my malt journey. Time to see how a large part of the standard range comes out here in 2011.

Highland Park 12 yo, 40%

Nose: citrus and toffee caramel - golden toffee. Crisp biscuits and some fruit. All good.

Taste: Sparkles in the mouth. A little peat coated in honey sweetness nicely balanced with flowers. In the finish a little smoke appears. A great 12 year old whisky!

This baby is mainly from european oak and it seems to me that the profile has changed over the years. Still a cracker though.

Rating: 87

Highland Park 15 yo, 40%

Nose: Fruits like kiwi and melon. Fresh, light and kind. Citrus fruits and bonfire smoke.

Taste: Malty freshness, citrus and meadow flowers. The finish is dry. Not my HP favourite.

Rating: 84

Highland Park 18 yo, 43%

Nose: Flowers and honey, great mouthfeel. Sweet and full of joy. Salted almonds. A sherry harmoy that lights up this humble taster.

Taste: Beautiful honey, heather, flowers that caress. Like the perfect dream you don't wanna wake up from. Fruity notes flicker by and ends in a dry finish.

This whisky is combined of 40-50 casks. It has always been a favourite of mine and will continue to be so.

Rating: 90

Highland Park 21 yo, 47.5%

This 21 yo is from american oak that has held sherry. According to a HP representative it should contain whisky more than 40 years of age and in style is aiming to be close to the old Bicentenary.

Nose: delicious. Crispy nuts and golden cornfields united. 'Burnt' candy, fresh made coffee. Really fantastic.

Taste: simply beautiful. A juicy complexity with vanilla and wood from the cask in just the right amounts. A synergetic whisky.

Rating: 91

Highland Park 25 yo, 48.1%

Nose: the 50% 1st fill sherry european oak comes forward. The sensation is of deep sherry, boiled fruits accompanied by tangerines, nuts and pine.

Taste: what a whisky! The balance is out of this world. Sherry, fruits, nuts, raisins and pine wood. This 25 yo is better than I remember. Has it improved over the years or is it just me?

Rating: 92

Highland Park 30 yo, 48.1%

Nose: Nutty chocolate, brittle, diesel-sherry. Almost beyond words.

Taste: Harmonic and complex for sure but it's actually hard to pin down specific notes after the stunning 25 yo. There is a sweetness but it's also a bit thin, again compared to it's smaller sibling. Perhaps it's the fact that more refill casks have been used here.. It's like a mountain climber well on his way dreaming of the summit but when he gets close the weather changes and he has to return down. A fine dram that deserves to be enjoyed on its own.

Rating: 90

Concluding comments: Highland Park has more than stood the test over time and is still a favourite of mine. The quality is high and the style really suits my palate. For me, the 12 yo seems to be the one which has changed the most over the years. The 25 yo especially is a fantastic whisky and I look forward to trying the Viking range in the not so distant future.

Lars

Highland Park 12 and Lagavulin DE 1980

1. Highland Park 12yo (L0671F L11) 40%

Nose : Very delicate. A pleasant mix of fruit, light peat and flowers

Palate : Moss, flowers and peat with a dominant floral background. Is it heather ?

Finish : Medium-long with a little bitterness

Rating 84

Comment : This batch is tad more floral than I remember and maybe a bit over the top. The batch variation of this standard OB is greater than you think. Nice level of peat. My mum likes it

2. Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1980 43%

Nose: Very sweet with underlying spicy peatyness

Palate: Woody, sweet and peaty

Finish: Sweet and long

Rating 84

Comment : The sweetness affected by the PX cask is huge. This whisky is for people who likes very sweet sherried whiskies

Final Comment. Two very drinkable whiskies. Sweet and welcoming. I was gonna describe them as very female whiskies until I remembered quite a few woman doesn't like peaty whiskies :-)