Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

Shame on you, Highland Park, for selling such an uneven product! For shame! This bottle is not worth half of what I paid for it! The bespoke release, part of the brand’s Single Cask Series, has been bottled at cask strength to bring out its purest flavour.

Unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise, your use of and membership to the Service are exclusively governed by Dutch law. We shall first try to settle any dispute over a dram of whisky. Disputes that cannot be settled over multiple drams of whisky shall be solely submitted to the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise. Sitting atop last year’s revamped Highland Park core line is their 18 Year Old single malt. There are older expressions from this Orkney distillery, of course, but they weren’t included in the Viking-themed revamp.Nose: Salty sweetness, fruit, a bit of smoke and oak. I once read someone write salted butter, and I agree. Very well balanced and a good sign and representation of the taste. This edition has been drawn from an 18-year-old refill butt, which is said by Motion to harness notes of “sweet, toasted oak, vanilla fudge ice cream, roasted almonds and violets’’ as “floral peat smoke, cinnamon bark and spiciness” linger afterwards. Within a few minutes after my 1st sip last evening - I sorta noticed that odd feeling that I haven't had in years...I cannot tolerate neither wine, nor champagne due to the headaches that I tend to get from both (is it the sulfites?), and last night I sensed I would have one.

Well, I recently got a bottle of HP18, and I must say that it is as superb as I remember it being over the years.As for the Single Cask Series, Motion claims the 18-year-old expression has “an outstanding character or simply a superb example of Highland Park’s uniquely complex balance of flavors.” Beautiful aroma, full of roasted sweet meats, honey, saffron, peanut brittle. Very little smoke and peat, but it is there - if you are willing to wait for it. The 18 year old is, in some ways, an embodiment of what Highland Park does. The Scotch industry doesn’t have too many distilleries that plant their feet squarely on both peated malt and Sherry cask aging, but Highland Park does, and what the now call Viking Pride is an aged example. The malt is lightly peated with Hobbister Moor peat, and the the recipe uses mostly Sherry seasoned, European oak cask-aged whisky. Viking Pride is bottled at 43% ABV. So my point is - that "crappy" HP18 that I referenced is indeed changing literally in every respect - almost as a living being is coming alive. Now if the HP12 could hurry up and do likewise... Took it to the super bowl party tonight and shared with some of my buddies, and tonight HP18 was a different beast(in a good way). It didn't have any of the burnt rubbery taste, instead I got a pleasant peat smoke that I was expecting.

Finish: The finish repeated the palate very nicely, with a peppery, warming sensation gradually giving way to the light, fruit based, fresh feeling. Cinnamon and other spices linger in a medium to long, very smooth finish. The ABV seems a tad higher to me than the usual 43%, which is curious. Whisky from this bottle does better with a touch of water. I normally have never added water to HP 18 in the past. The expression was drawn from a Sherry-seasoned European oak cask and was bottled at a cask-strength 58.5% ABV. The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein. Each and every Member must be of legal drinking age in its country of residence to be allowed to use the Service. If no such law exists in a Member’s country of residence, the Member has to be over 21 years old to use the Service. We have the right to ask you to provide proof of your age and/or to provide further identification to prevent underage usage and/or for any other legal or legitimate purpose. By using the Service, and by creating an account you represent, warrant and confirm that you are of legal age.

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My opportunity to sample this wonderful dram came about through a conversation with my friend who I have been chatting with about whisky for the past couple of months. I had previously introduced him to SMSW’s with a dram of Auchentoshan 12, which he found to be an eye opener, as his previous experience had been limited to blended whiskies and the basic gateway drams, which he had not been impressed by. There is also some clover honey that helps to form a bridge into the finish, which is long, and generously sweet, yet also a bit smoky, with echoes of the white chocolate, spices, and macadamia nut.