46°
Distillery : Highland Park - Islands
Ex-Bourbon Hogsheads, 1st Fill Seasoned Sherry, American Oak and ex-Rioja Casks
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2023
Uncoloured
Peated around 20 ppm
The first limited 21 year-old Highland Park was launched by the distillery in 2009 and was named the World's Single Malt Best Scotch Whisky the same year. Over a decade then passed before Gordon Motion, the Master Whisky Maker of the place, decided to release a new Batch of it. Then, a new edition appeared more or less each year. This one is the latest, brand new, and its particularity is that Ex-Rioja Casks were used. A total of 36 casks were used, but I don't know how many bottles. It is said on Whiskybase that it is non-chill filtered, but nobody else confirms it.
Let's Taste It :
The intensity of the fruit is quite surprising, vanilla, caramelised apple, heather honey, white fruits, mirabelle plums, greengages, peaches, conifers and bushes. Pine cones. The peat is in the background but very present. The palate is still a tad light, though oily, lemony, vanilla-flavoured, woody, with toasted almonds and rich spices, nutmeg and pepper, cinnamon. A little drying, before a long, clove-like finish with cranberries and cumin. Paprika and small sour apples. Dry, sandy earth.
In Short,
It's something else after all, very rich and varied in flavour, with rare qualities. However, one small flaw persists: a relatively light palate. Apart from that, it's perfect, so to speak. The Rioja casks are perceptible on the finish. This is very good work. The price obviously makes you bristle, but it's more or less what's on the market at the moment.
Score : 88
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Chris Bell - Elevator to Heaven
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