Highland Park 15 Years Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland-Island-Orkney

Brand: Highland Park

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 15 Years

ABV:  40 % (UK Bottling)

Colour: Golden

Nose: Thick Sweet Sherry is accompanied by light Island Peat/Smoke, lots of Citrus, Straw/Grass, Oak, Vanilla, Mineral tones, Heather, Malt, Cocoa Powder, Honey, Nuts (Nutella), Brown Sugar, Buttered Toast and hints of Leather, Mint and Dark Chocolate. Some Alcohol is present as well. Less balanced than the 12 years and with a tad more Smoke. Still, not bad.

Palate: Slightly Watery. Deserves a higher ABV. More Smoke here than I would have expected after the Nose. Again, loads of Citrus as well as Toffee, Spices, Malt, Oak, Vanilla, Honey, Heather and light Licorice.

Finish: Quite Dry with Citrus, Toffee, Pepper, light Peat/Smoke, slightly Bitter Oak, Salted Almonds, light Licorice and a hint of Banana. The pleasant light Smoke stays in your mouth for quite a while!

I added a bit of Water but the Nose does not change a whole lot. Maybe a bit Sweeter. Palate and Finish just get watered down. I know there are many people that prefer to add a bit of Water to their Whisky and that's fine of course. But with the odd exception, I prefer mine neat. 

Rating: 85.5

Nose: 21 - Taste:  21.5 - Finish: 21.5  - Overall: 21.5

General Remarks: Highland Park, founded in 1798, is the most northerly distillery in Scotland and is located on the Orkney Isles off the North-East coast of Scotland. The distillery uses local Orcadian Peat, that mostly consists of Heather and other Plants. Only a limited amount of the Malt is dried with Peat though. Highland Park matures its spirits in Ex-Sherry casks from both Spanish and, curiously, American Oak. Highland Park is one the very few remaining distilleries that malts (at least part of) the Barley on their own malting floor. The HP 15 years was introduced in 2003 and is different from the other Standard Distillery Bottlings in the sense that it matured predominantly in American Oak Ex-Sherry Casks while Spanish Oak Ex-Sherry Casks are mainly used for the other expressions. The distillery informs that for the 15 Years 30% First Refill and 70% Refill Ex-Sherry Casks are used. The HP 15 costs on average 75 US Dollars. The US Bottling has a more adequate ABV of 43%.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: I think the HP 15 is okay although it's not terribly complex and suffers a bit from the low ABV. I prefer the more balanced Nose of the 12 Years but Palate and Finish are fine and the 15 Years is utterly drinkable. If you like to drink Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks, this HP might be a good way to start your journey into the fascinating world of Single Malts. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                   June 15, 2013