Nineteenth Tasting
Highland Park Vertical tasting
At Bill’s suggestion we are doing an all Highland Park tasting of three bottlings. Two drams are are single cask offerings. The first of these is a cask strength distillery bottling exclusively for Beltramo’s, a liquor store in Menlo Park, California. The second is a bottling from Blackadder International of Edinburgh, an independent bottler.
The third bottling is a standard distillery bottling of the HP 18 year old.
Highland Park is distilled on Orkney also home to the Scapa distillery. Orkney is one of the rugged islands off the north east coast of mainland Scotland. This group of islands has been occupied for over 8,500 years and was settled mostly by Norsemen. The name Orkney has its origin in Old Norse meaning “seal islands.”
Highland park is located in Kirkwall on Orkney and was founded in 1798. It is partially owned by Edrington Group Ltd., which also own: Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, The Macallan, and Glenturret. Co-owner, William Grant and Sons, also own Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Kinninvie, Hendrick’s Gin and Monkey Shoulder
Whisky reviewer and expert Michael Jackson has called Highland Park “The greatest all-rounder in the world of malt whisky.” (Jackson, Michael (1989). Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion.
HP distillery bottlings include: 12, 15, 18, 25 and a 30 year old. A recent addition for sale at a mere £900 (about $1300) is the 40 year old. All aged in Olorosso sherry casks, Highland Parks are typically sweet and smoky with a light sherry on the nose. The palate is slightly chili peppery with dark chocolate flavor to go with the sherried, malty, slightly oily mouth-feel. The unique heathered peat is said to give HP its honeyed essence along with the briny smoke.
Our regular distillery bottling, the Highland Park 18, 43%ABV, gets a 92 in the 6th edition of Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide to Single Malt Whisky and a 95.5 from Jim Murray in the 2010 Whisky Bible. Those are pretty damn good credentials!
Murray notes: “This is a must have-dram. I show it to ladies the world over to win their hearts, minds and taste buds when it comes to whisky. Eye closing beauty: immediate glossy impact of rich, vaguely metallic honey but upped in the complexity stakes by the subtle intense marbling of peat; the muscular richness, aided by the softness of the oil ensures that the maximum intensity is not only reached but maintained.”
Paul Pacult named Highland Park 18 year old ‘Best Spirit in the World’ for the second consecutive time in his Top 115 Spirits in June 2009 and in his Spirits Journal rating in June 2005.
About $100, (for you, $80) widely available
Our first single cask offering, The Old Man of Hoy, 10 yr old, Cask ref: 2001/HO4, 43% ABV is bottled by Blackadder International. Their niche, since 1995 in the independent bottling industry, is probably their raw cask series, which have no filtration from the cask and indeed contain char bits from the residue that accumulates in the cask as it ages. 
Our bottle is not from this series but is not chill filtered or colored. For contractual reasons it is not identified on the bottle as Highland Park. The name, Old Man of Hoy, refers to a 450 ft. geologic structure off the coast that looks somewhat like a man. Its use as the name of a whisky is taken from a third Orkney distillery, (located in Stromness) that was closed and demolished in the 1920’s. The products of the forgotten distillery were commonly known as “O.O.”, or “Old Orkney” whisky and Man o’ Hoy. According to maltwhisky.com, “The Old Man of Hoy (43 vol.) has a pale gold color and a sweet, creamy, marshmallow nose with lemony and big smoky notes. The palate is creamy, dry, with citric, and grassy, notes. The finish is long, dry, buttery, very smoky, and a bit tart.”
This dram is probably not the most outstanding example of HP, but interesting to compare to our other bottlings.
This cask bottling is no longer available
Our cask-strength bottling from Beltramos is a full-on, viscous, luscious reminder of the essence of what makes Highland Park great. Our bottling is Beltramo’s Highland Park, cask #2498, distilled 1996, bottled 2005, 19 years old, 53.8% ABV. We tasted another cask strength single cask 15 year old from Beltramos on 7/31/08 during a cask strength tasting that included Glenlivet Nadurra and Ardbeg Uigeadail. It was one of my favorites and I rated it a 90-95.
John Hansel of Malt Advocate gives this sherry-bomb an 84, stating, “Amber-gold colored (not as dark as the other Beltramo’s offering here), with notes of caramel, honey, heather, and bright fruit, evolving into gentle cinnamon, vanilla, and ginger. Soft finish. A Highland Park for a lazy afternoon.”
Serge Valentin of the Malt Maniacs gives this dram a 90. “Colour: amber. Nose: sherry galore! Extremely winey but in a nice way. Dried mushrooms, soy sauce, game, ‘hare belly’ (not Halle Berry, eh!) roasted pecans and geraniums (no heady geranium notes that is.) Old pu-erh tea, cigar box, patchouli. Very ‘tertiary’! Mouth: superb sherry, all in the same vein as on the nose. Caramelized beef, liquorice, tar, prunes, mint, cream sherry, 
chewing tobacco (yeuukk – but it’s great here), kumquats and maple syrup. Finish: long and all in the same vein, with a mushroomy aftertaste (no flaw at all in this case). Comment: excellent oomphy sherried Highland Park, lots happening. Does not need water – even if I’m sure water would make it even more complex.” He also gives it a 5 out of 5 stars.
Sounds good to me. When do we sip?
$120 plus shipping from Beltramos only
Nineteenth Tasting - Old Man of Hoy, Highland Park 18, Highland Park 19
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Orkney Ward Hill
Old Man of Hoy Rock Formation
Midhowe Broch
(Click for link)
July 22, 2010 Meeting Wrap-Up
We commenced our 19th tasting at Bill’s House o’ Scotch with a leisurely tour of the Scotch Cellar. Everyone, with mouths agape, walked the aisles and miles of whisky in stunned silence. Yeah, OK, its pretty cool but not as cool as the plastic shelf where I have my 12 bottles of whisky. Moving on.
After viewing a video of Highland Park, ours was an all Highland Park tasting featuring a no-longer available Old Man of Hoy, 10 yr old, Cask ref: 2001/HO4, 43% ABV, followed by a standard distillery bottling, Highland Park 18, 43%ABV and a final wower of a whisky, Beltramo’s Highland Park, cask #2498, distilled 1996, bottled 2005, 19 years old, 53.8% ABV. All had a golden color with ever deepening hues as we approached the 19-yr. old single cask, which tended more towards a light mahogany.
The Hoy had a very creamy nose full of sweetness with floral and vanilla elements and on the mouth was a viscous, creaminess with a honey and citric essence to it with a hint of smokiness. It was a very nice way to start off, but somewhat light weight. I would give it an 80-85.
The HP 18 stepped up all the elements of the 10-yr. old in color and nose with a heavier, sherry sweetness and a nutty and peppery bit in the shadows. On the palate one gets the sherry very dominant but in balance (the 18 is casked 40-45% in Sherry casks) a heather honey and a bit of iodine and bitter dark chocolate. Quite yummy! I’d give this version an 85-90 and this was Nancy’s favorite dram of the evening.
Finally our cask strength, single cask star of the night, the Beltramo’s bottling of a 19-yr. old HP aged in a sherry butt. Very dominant Sherry sweetness on the nose with caramel, and some peatiness and floral elements. All that plus a black pepperiness and ashy smokiness are on the palate. The Sherry element is too dominant to call this well balanced, but what a stunner with a very long finish. I’d rate this bottling at 90-95 and it was the favorite of the tasting.
Until our next tasting...
Copyright 2011 Mark Friedman
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