
October 16, 2018

Little duos, today HP again

Indeed that would be Highland Park. There’s more and we shouldn’t and shan’t complain.

Highland Park 1998/2018 (55.7%, Keepers of the Quaich, cask #7667, refill American hogshead, 297 bottles)

Highland Park 1998/2018 (55.7%, Keepers of the Quaich, cask #7667, refill American hogshead, 297 bottles)
This one was bottled for the Keepers’ autumn 2018 banquet. And well, since I’m now one of them, let’s indulge ourselves in this new little beauty… Colour: gold. Nose: a beautiful nose that gathers HP’s traditional waxy/honeyed mineralness and a rather vibrant vanilla-ed lemonness from some good active US wood. It all works in sync, with a lovely freshness and, well, no fuss at all. With water: touches of cabinetwork, thuja wood, pinewood, spearmint, melissa water… Mouth (neat): extremely good, with this tense almost mezcally side, so with some earthy grassiness, and quite a lot of raw mint, angelica, roots, and simply lemons. Wonderful, really. Celeriac. With water: more of that. Celeriac and lemons in some kind of crazy sweet mayonnaise. All we’d need to add are a few good shrimps. Finish: long, very clean, marvellously vertical. Comments: well, that distillers and affiliated friends would be able to select a great cask doesn’t quite come as a surprise, does it. PS, no we didn’t find any kippers in this Keepers’ bottling. PPS, works well with haggis.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Highland Park 15 yo 2002 (55.8%. Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #4.241, ‘Humbrecht’s cough medicine’, first fill barrel, 191 bottles)

Highland Park 15 yo 2002 (55.8%. Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #4.241, ‘Humbrecht’s cough medicine’, first fill barrel, 191 bottles)
So it appears that my dear friend famous winemaker and HP connoisseur Olivier Humbrecht is using this as his personal cough syrup. Between us, it’s a miracle that a few bottles could have been made available to the general public. Colour: pale gold. Nose: well well well, we’re in similar territories, really. Does this one bear more mentholness? Perhaps… Eucalyptus? Maybe… Otherwise it’s classic ex-barrel HP, clean, mineral, slightly waxy, and very moderately honeyed. With water: perfect whisky. No touch this, this need not something else, this good like this. How do you like my Italian? Mouth (neat): classic pure HP, the best style there is, homicidally mineral and pine-y indeed. Now, cough medicine? Well can’t we spot a good excuse whenever there is one around? With water: swims very well, this one could reach the mainland. Lemon, flints, green tea, grapefruits. And, yeah, okay, menthol. Finish: long and clean. Comments: marvellous distillate, within the top five for sure as long as odd wood was not in use. I'm rambling, aren't I?
SGP:562 - 90 points.

(Many thanks, Angus and Nick!)

Check the index of all Highland Park we've tasted so far