Tasting notes – Page 13

Highland Park 18 years 43% (old edition)

This is the 18 year old in the old version, from before Highland Park refurbished their standard range. I belive the bottle was purchased around 10 years ago. If I get hold of a sample of the new (or indeed even older) 18 year old, I will do a similar comparison as for the two twelves.

Nose: Surprisingly spirity. Oak and heather. After a while dried fruits. With water the smoke appears, but also dark chocolate and a little forest.

Palate: Oak, dry wood, dried cranberries. With water I get smoke on the palate as well, and some sort of vegetation – dark chocolate on the finish.

Comments: A classic. It was once a good buy, the price was very reasonable for an 18 year old and you got a really good dram in return for your money. Those that remember the even older Highland Park expressions claim that it was even better twenty or even thirty years ago. That may be so, but I will confine my nostalgia to this one.

Highland Park Dark Origins 46.8%

Highland Park announces the launch of a new whisky: Dark Origins. According to the press release it is ” inspired by the cunning spirit and courageous personality of its founder, Magnus Eunson.”

Magnus was a cunning soul, apparently, working as a beadle during the day, but as a smuggler and possibly illicit distiller by night. He has been connected to the founding of Highland Park distillery, though the story they tell on their website is somewhat more academically hesitant than the Dark Origins press release.

In any case, a new, widely available expression of Highland Park is interesting news. The only “leak” about it prior to the press release embargo of 1st July 00.01 is the label design, which has fallen into the hands of The Whisky Ledger.

Dark Origins is bottled at a strength of 46.8% ABV, is non-chillfiltered and non-coloured, and substantial amounts of first-fill sherry casks have been used in its maturation, twice as many as for the standard 12 year old. As Dark Origins is a NAS (No age statement), the use of the casks may be a necessary virtue, sherry is known to mask a lot of things, and youthful spirit is one of them. With the market the way it is, the release of a NAS comes as no suprise and may be a very wise move. The important thing, as ever, is what does the whisky taste like, not how old it is.

I’ve been lucky enough to receive an advance sample of Dark Origins, and so I present you with my tasting notes:

Nose: Milk chocolate, fudge, newly struck matches and very subtle smoke. Warm wood and spices, I think cumin comes closest to what I’m finding. The nose loses some sweetness after some time in the glass, and aquires tarter and fruitier notes, which are emphasised with water. Tart mango? With water the sherry cask is also immediately more obvious, with burnt matchs and leather, but also grilled meat. Spareribs?

Palate: Surprisingly little sweetness. Ashes, heather and lemon. A little sufur. Water emphasises the cask on the palate as well, dry sherry, burnt oak and old leather. There is smoke, but though obvious it is not overwhelming.

Comments: A lot of people are going to like this (though if you dislike the smell of burnt matches you might just hate it). Some may be disappointed at the lack of sweet notes, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the dryness suits this whisky. Out of interest I tried it against the very lovely Arran sherry cask (sherried island whisky against sherried island whisky) and actually liked it even better than when I tried it first on its own. Dark Origins doesn’t beat the single cask, but it holds its own, and that’s quite impressive in a NAS. A very good candidate to one of those “must always have a bottle at hand” slots in the cupboard for those nights when you just want a good dram and for bringing along to social occasions to share with friends.

Dark Origins will be rolled out internationally starting now, and to attract some attention Highland Park are planning The Dark Expedition in the second half of august. I’ve been invited to join, and since I like sailboats even more than I like whisky (if that’s at all possible) I hastily cleared my calendar. There are also two places up for grabs to a Highland Park fan, so if you fancy a trip across the North Sea, check out the details at whiskynyt.dk.

Addendum: Highland Park has now written about Dark Origins on their blog and we can see the final label design (which differs somewhat from the leaked version).

Springbank Vintage 2000 for Jon Bertelsen 58.5%

Bottled in 2008, cask number 401 gave 322 bottles.

Nose: Potato crisps with paprika. Malt and vanilla with a touch of smoke. With water I get balck pepper and a dose of barbequed chicken.

Palate: Smoke, ashes and malt. With water, much of the same. Not that this is a peat monster, the smoke is contained, but very clear. Salt bisquits and on the finish something vegetational.

Comments: Bottle-kill. The last few cl have been hanging around the bottle for a while, so that might have affected the taste. Takes a lot of water. This was the first Springbank I liked well enough to buy a bottle of, and it’s therefore a sort of milestone in my personal whisky history.

Arran 1997-2013 Sherry Cask #937 55.8%

Nose: Dried apricots, milk chocolate and thyme. Witn water I get honey, some lemon and malt. There’s also something flowery on the nose, tending towards lilacs without feeling too perfumy.

Palate: Orange marmalade and then bitter oak which softens substantially on its way through the mouth and becomes cream and milk chocolate on the finish. Fascinating. Water does not change that, but adds a floral note, and reveals malt on the finish.

Comments: This is the shit. The bee’s knees. I recently tried one of this year’s casks, presumably on its way to Vinmonopolet, and it was lovely as well. Quite simply one of the best buys at Vinmonopolet right now, at less than a thousand NOK. And since the importer is nice enough to list each cask separately (and believe me, that adds expense and work) you know exactly what you get when you order it.

Bunnahabhain Liddesdale Batch #6 21 years Adelphi 46%

Nose: Newly struck matches, dried red berries. Water adds tartness to the nose, I get lemon but also a little sulfur and a hint of liquorice.

Palate: The malt is obvious, even through the fairly heavy cask influence. Newly struck matches, oak and dry sherry. Water opens for bitter chocolate and dry forest. Dry cocoa and barley dust on the finish.

Comments: I’m rather more impressed this evening than when I had it as part of a tasting the other day, I found it a bit too bitter then. I still miss a compensating sweet note, or at least I think I do. There is something not entirely “complete” about the sherry character. Still, a nice dram, I’ll have another if you’re offering.

Cragganmore 1997 14 years Duncan Taylor NC2 46%

Bottled 2011.

Nose: Pear popsicles, a hint of smoke, oak. With water it develops into melon yougurt and dry driftwood.

Palate: Oak, honey, warmth and a little black pepper. More bitter with water and a subtle smokey character, but also something fruity, orangey.

Comments: Somewhat interesting the contrast between the “cool” nose, especially with the popsicles, and the “warm” taste. Otherwise a nice enough dram, middlingly complex but not something to spend an evening studying.

Highland Park Cask Strength Edition 56%

This is a bottlig of Highland Park which was launched in 2013 exclusively for Sweden, in half bottles. It’s a NAS and it’s been matured in European ex-sherry casks. It’s still widely available in Sweden for the relatively nice price of 299,- SEK.

Nose: Milk chocolate, burnt oak and ice cream. The relatively high strength is very obvious, despite the sherry influence which often masks a high ABV. With a little water added I can get my nose deeper in the glass and find dried orange slices, honey and old, dry leather. A little liquorice and a touch of manthol. Another drop of water and it suddenly develops a nice, flowery character. Sweet lilac crossed with flowering heather.

Palate: A hint of smoke, burnt oak and also a hint of burnt rubber. With water I get barbequed orange peel and herbs, and the rubber disappears. A whiff of smoke lingers in the background.

Comments: Perhaps a candidate for our travelling dram this summer? A very, very able dram for everyday wear. It’s not a stunner, but I could drink dram after dram without becoming bored, and 35 cl is a very handy format.

Nikka Pure Malt White 43%

This is a rather unusual vatted malt, as it’s a vatting of Japanese malt whisky from Yoichi and Scottish malt whisky from an unnamed Islay distillery. The latter is probably Caol Ila, from the simple fact that that is the Islay malt most readily available, but it may be one of the others even so.

Blind tasting.

Nose: Newly lit barbeque (charcoal lighter fluid and fire). Lightly smoky and quite a bit of vanilla. With water I get red Hubba Bubba (chewing gum from the 80ies), and some barbequed meat.

Palate: Clearer smoke, but some charcoal lighter fluid here too. Baked apples. Water emphasises fire and ashes, but with an underlying sweetness.

Comments: You’d think that charcoal lighter fluid would be negative as a tasting note, but as it provides images of summer and barbequeing it’s not unattractive. Otherwise the whisky is not quite interesting enough and at the same time not quite peatmonstery enough to become a new favourite, but it’s quite drinkable.

Highland Park Hjärta 12 years 58.1%

Hjärta was bottled specifically for the Nordic countries, but was also available at the distillery.

Nose: Wood and orange marmelade. Yellow apples. Water adds a flowery touch, but also dark chocolate and lemon.

Palate: Lightly perfumed, oak, orange marmelade. Dark chocolate on the finish. Water emphasises the oak and brings out malt, or rather husks.

Comments: Does not win my heart, though it’s not a bad dram. Apart from being cask strength, a plus in my book, I don’t know that it’s any better than the standard 12 years old. Well, it has a nice box, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or 12 years 46%

Nectar d’Or has been finished in Sauterne casks. Blind tasting.

Nose: Acetone and oak, lightly perfumed and quite bourbon-y. But then, after some time in the glass: Raspberry jam and pancakes. With water it developes a trace of wax or Play-Doh and burnt matches.

Palate: Oaky perfume, faint bitterness, burnt sugar. Malt and orange marmelade. The marmelade turns to berry jam once water is added.

Comments: On first sip I was hesitant, but after some time in the glass it’s quite nice, really. Not something I’d buy a whole bottle of, perhaps, but I’d not say no to another dram.