Saturday 22 May 2021

Highland Park 2003 The Octave Exclusively Bottled for Kirsch Import 16 yo

 
 
 
53,3°
Distillery : Highland Park - Islands
Bourbon Cask and Oloroso Sherry Octave Finish
Independent Bottling 
By Duncan Taylor Limited
Limited Edition 
Single Cask 
Bottled in 2020
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 20 ppm
 
 
 
The Octave range is unique in that all its whiskies are finished for a few months in Octave casks, which are so small that they can hold no more than 50 litres. This means that the maturation process is much more intense. These are apparently Oloroso Sherry casks. This Highland Park spent 16 years in classic oak casks, then 9 months in an Octave cask, before being released in a limited edition of 78 bottles, and handed over to the German distributor Kirsch Import for exclusive sale in Germany. 




Let's Taste It : 
Ripe vanilla and yellow plums, fairly acidic lemon, spicy iodine. Plentiful mirabelles, varnished wood, holly and heather. Liquid honey. The peat is quite mild, slightly salty. Well-balanced. Juicy white peaches. Icing sugar. Once again very fruity on the palate, with vanilla and exotic fruits such as papaya and mango. Slight astringency behind, mixed with peat and clay. Quite full-bodied spices after a while. Long, charred and powerful finish. Cola, latte, brown sugar. Almost pastry-like in the end.
 
In Short, 
It's very pleasant, retaining the distillery's hallmarks of light peat, heather, honey and exotic fruits, and adding a soft, woody and silky touch. It's a success, but I must point out that it needs water to open up, and that the price is, in my opinion, excessive.
Score : 88
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                          To Be Listened While Sipping :
   
                                          Air - La Femme d'argent

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