Highland Park 14 yo 2004/2018 (62.4%, OB for Belgian Vikings, cask #6116, refill sherry puncheon, 559 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: some rather harsh and rough alcohol to begin, you have to dig a little to get to rye breads, dry earth, roasted nuts and things like cornflour and tree bark. Rather a dry and tough one. With water: performs the necessary ‘loosening’ so now there’s a more generous and easy breadiness. Also notes of sunflower seeds, hummus and pollen. Pretty good actually. Mouth: the arrival in the mouth is much nicer than the nose suggests, much more gloopy, sweet and syrupy with these lovely notes of golden syrup, sultanas, fruit loaf and mead. Some wood spices, soft tannin and matcha. You could also include cloves and a little gingerbread. With water: a little drier again now with a sense of dried wildflowers, pollens, canvass and various herbal teas and things like bergamot and a light sootiness. I find it actually rather complex. Finish: good length, quite earthy, rich, bready and getting a little more smokiness and gentle peat. Comments: This one really grew on me, I’d say you can pretty much dispense with the neat nose and quickly reach for the pipette. Which raises the question, why do Edrington insist on bottling these beasts at natural strength? Time and again in these sessions the impression I get is that they don’t really start singing until reduced by even a few degrees. Anyway, it’s this very kind of attitude that is probably why I’m not ‘employed’ in the whisky industry.
SGP: 462 - 87 points.

Highland Park 15 yo 2004/2018 (60.3%, OB ‘Distillery Exclusive’, cask #1938, 1st fill American oak sherry puncheon, 572 bottles)
Colour: light amber. Nose: a light and leafy sherry that tiptoes and flits to begin with. Rather mineral and showing graphite oil, putty, limestone, hessian and mulchy earthiness. There’s also a touch of botrytis and raisiny sweetness which I love! Evolves this kind of hessian and dessert wine combo. Very attractive. With water: fragrant, leafy smoke, tobacco leaf, mint tea, lapsang souchong with lemon peel and some older, dried out sweet wines. Mouth: sweet dark fruit cordials, strawberry wine, hessian, chocolate sauce, mole, herbal bitters, and even some old school, ‘dark’ Orkney peat. Really impressive and quite superb actually. A lot going on with notes of roasted Brazil nuts, bitter chocolate, rancio, hessian and five spice - some coffee too. With water: eases into this very herbal, earthy, mineral and elegantly bitter profile now. Lots of black pepper, strong dark teas, miso, chocolate, coffee and walnut oil. Finish: long and brilliantly herbal, softly peaty, sooty, earthy, mentholated and full of wee notes of walnut, rancio and tobacco. Comments: It’s not hard to see why they chose this as a distillery exclusive. Totally adore the many wee call-backs to a more ancient style of HP.
SGP: 563 - 91 points.

Highland Park 12 yo 2005/2018 (62.7%, OB Texas Edition, cask #3600, refill sherry butt, 600 bottles)
Colour: lightly sooty, nutty, slight notes of salted caramel, black tea, umami and some rather fragrant and enchanting notes of herbal broths and infusions. Perhaps a wee flicker of peat smoke too. Noticeably ‘easier’ upon first nosing than many of the others I’d say. With water: camphor, hessian, cooking oils, even a little paraffin. Gets big, chunky and even slightly mechanical. Still a few wee glimmers of sweeter golden syrup on brown bread coming through. Mouth: good attack, very rich, nutty, leafy earthiness, pumpernickel, figs, a little natural tar and these common notes of graphite and mineral oil. Perhaps even a wee hint of clean rubber. With water: nicely balanced, some natural sweetness with sultana and raisin, also menthol tobacco, a little balsamic and some black tea with sugar. Also a touch of tar liqueur. Finish: medium and with a lot of breads, light dark fruit notes and quite a bit of medicine too. Comments: If I were Edrington, I would also be afraid to give the good folk of Texas anything but the best!
SGP: 562 - 89 points. 

Highland Park 12 yo 2005/2017 (63.8%, OB for Russia, cask #3787, refill puncheon, 570 bottles)
No doubt the perfect tipple to sip while interfering in Western elections, managing hundreds of Twitter troll-bot accounts, undermining democracy or just nonchalantly cyber attacking auction houses that provide meaningful employment to dozens of people in less affluent bits of Scotland. But anyway… Colour: amber. Nose: one of these immediately earthy, nutty and gingery ones. There’s also bouillon, suet, marrow, dunnage, hessian and some stewed dark fruits. Still a bit of graphite and carbon paper too. With water: a little softer and more overtly fruity now, baked apples, sultanas, figs - still a sense of ‘stewed’ fruits with some brandy notes as well. However, I also find things like cola cubes and hessian cloth. Very good! Mouth: lean, bitter, chocolatey, lots of coffee, roast nuts and anthracite. Feels very ‘European’ oaky - could that be some fans of social democracy at Edrington ‘trolling’ Putin with their choice of quercus? (Angus, you talk such rubbish!) With water: rich, bready, nutty, lots of olive oil, some praline, toasted walnuts, dried herbs and peppery black tea. Finish: long and getting very meaty and thick now. Lots of pepper, dense earthiness, hessian and some herbal cough medicines. Comments: Lucky Russia! But seriously, this one was very good, wonderful concentration and depth of flavour while not being too over the top.
SGP: 662 - 89 points.

Highland Park 12 yo 2005/2018 (64.5%, OB for K&L Wine Merchants, cask #3294, refill hogshead, 253 bottles)
Colour: amber/mahogany - ok, I’m guessing that would be a refill ‘sherry’ hogshead? Nose: roast walnuts, miso, soy sauce, umami paste, herbal broths, meat stocks, bone marrow, camphor, ink, hessian, natural tar. Totally superb nose and a pristine, pretty old school sherry. A wonderful tango of leathery, earthy and salty! With water: more open and more generously fruity. Lots of dense dark fruits, but also things like lime and strawberry jam. Still this wonderfully nervous and resinous, salty sherry. Mouth: salted prune juice! Natural tar liqueur, herbal cocktail bitters, more soy sauce, iodine drops, camphor, bitter molten chocolate with chilli, salted Dutch Liquorice and many more wee umami, herbal and deeply earthy qualities. With water: many red fruit cordials and jams, black tea, sweetened children’s medicines, lemon cough drops, pipe tobacco and more things like miso and umami broths. Finish: long, deeply earthy, chocolatey, peppery, warningly spicy, some lemon curd, salty umami and a nicely herbal aftertaste. Comments: Someone at K&L Wines clearly has a dossier on their local Edrington rep.
SGP: 662 - 90 points.

Highland Park 13 yo 2005/2018 (60.8%, OB for Viking Line ‘Batch 4’, cask #1294, 1st fill American oak sherry puncheon, 623 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: a lovely soft and inviting sweetness of golden syrup, banana bread and date syrup. Also dunnage, walnut oil, fig and cough syrup. Easy, direct and very attractive - like all good Vikings. With water: cloves, pollens, salted honey, olive oil cake and tobacco leaf. Elegant and deep but with a pretty effortless light touch about it. Mouth: again this impression of syrupiness upon arrival. Emphatic notes of herbal cough syrups and other rather ‘textural’ medicines. Lemon infused olive oil, putty, tar, embrocations, umami broths, liquid seasonings, elastoplasts, vapour rubs. Really excellent. With water: heather honey, wildflowers, gorse, pollen, salty sherry notes and sandalwood. Gets increasingly coastal in fact with some nicely bitter citrus pithy qualities and more herbal touches. Finish: long, wonderfully fresh, herbal, medical and still with these persistent heathery and honeyed qualities. Pure HP character singing loud and clear. Comments: Another really top notch selection. The unifying characteristic of all these ones which reach the 90 mark in my book is that they have combination of clear distillery character and an approachability and easiness about them which sets them apart.
SGP: 663 - 90 points.

Highland Park 12 yo 2006/2018 (63.3%, OB Daner ‘Edition 4’, cask #3030, 1st fill European oak sherry butt, 623 bottles)
Colour: deep amber. Nose: one of these sherry casks which immediately displays these notes of polished hardwoods, rosewood, mahogany etc. Lots of roast coffee beans, pot pourri, rosewater, litchis, salted liquorice, natural tar and soy sauce. A wonderfully resinous and saline sherry profile. With water: more rosewater, Turkish delight, rose syrup, baklava, lime pith, olive oil and tarragon. Even things like aniseed boiled sweets and fennel seed. Mouth: pure chocolate sauce! Wee inclusions of smoked chilli, dried thyme, tar liqueur, dark fruit cordials and some pretty strong black coffee. Also ink, more soy sauce, more liquorice and more salty, leathery, earthy sherry. Wonderfully thick in texture too. With water: date syrup, pomegranate molasses, rum ’n’ raisin ice cream, incense, dried wildflowers and more thick chocolatey and herbal notes. Finish: long, wonderfully earthy, chocolatey, gamey, leathery, herbal and gently sooty, some smoked meats in the aftertaste. Comments: Is it just me, or is quality improving as we go up the years? Better cask options from these years? Better distillate? I feel in this instance things were undeniably helped by a top notch sherry cask.
SGP: 672 - 90 points.

Highland Park 12 1/2 yo (56.9%, OB for The Whisky Vault 10th Anniversary, cask #500122, sherry seasoned firkin, 57 bottles, 2019)
This is actually a batch of the official Highland Park 12 year old at marrying strength which was re-racked into one of these wee firkin sherry casks for a few extra months. If you don’t know The Whisky Vault they are a very cool wee indy retailer based in Leeds, Yorkshire and worth checking out - especially if you like old bottles. Colour: deep gold. Nose: leafy, floral, honeyed and elegant to begin. Once again you get these impressions of flower honey, rosewater, Turkish delight and coconut scented gorse flowers. Here there is also a layer of bready richness too. Brown bread spread with salty butter and honey. Some heathery beers in the mix too. With water: doubles down on olive oil, herbal broths, salted mixed nuts, dried herbs and heather ales. Mouth: cooking oils, camphor, herbal butter, dried seaweed, rose syrup, lime cordial, umami paste, olive oil cake. Whatever cask trickery has gone on here, I have to say it has worked a treat. Some herb-infused breads with sea salt (focaccia?) and many cooking oil notes. Also some mineral oil and limestone. With water: salty, oily, herbal, slightly more lemony, more coastal and even rather waxy now too. Terrifically textural whisky. Finish: long, wonderfully herbal, lemony, oily, coastal, sandalwood and still with these lightly floral and honeyed qualities. Comments: Edrington, seriously! Can we not just have a more widely available 12yo marrying strength bottling in this vein? I find this almost worryingly good.
SGP: 662 - 90 points.

Highland Park 13 1/2 yo (55.2%, OB for Pär Caldenby, cask #700052, quarter cask, 151 bottles)
Another one of these private editions of marrying strength 12 year old, this time re-racked into a quarter cask for a little longer and bottled exclusively for The Laird of Smögen! Colour: pale amber. Nose: a few notches leaner and drier but still rather focussed on sandalwood, herbal bitters and a nicely salty freshness. Lots of heather flowers, lime pith, flints, mineral oil and putty. A pretty direct and beautifully coastal freshness underpins everything. With water: creamier, more honeyed, a little more custardy vanilla and more fragrant sandalwood. Mouth: big punchy salinity, bitter herbal extracts, salted liquorice, thyme, miso, camphor, mineral oil, old school shilling ales and more things like fennel, tarragon and pure heather. Gorse flowers again with this coconut edge, preserved lemons and various medical ointments. God dammit! With water: chalky, bitter lemon, grapefruit pith, bay leaf, gentle medical embrocations, olive oil and more old school ales. Finish: long and with quite a few salted peanuts, hessian, olive oil, herbal cough medicine and green tea with lemon. Comments: I get the impression that HP12 at marrying strength is some pretty serious juice. These wee finishes seem to really serve the HP distillate very well, you get the feeling everything is concentrated and heightened. A great surprise.
SGP: 662 - 90 points.

Highland Park 9 yo 2010/2020 (63.7%, OB for Dornoch Castle 20th Anniversary, cask #2051, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 232 bottles)
Can it really be 20 years since Dornoch received its first shipment of red trousers and gilet jackets?  Colour: pale gold. Nose: pah! Wonderfully fresh, bright, sunny, lemony and with just the right balance between natural barley and cask sweetness. This is really lovely, lots of verbena, chalk, waxes, sea air, sandalwood and light flinty notes. With water: develops a nice juicy fruit edge with some fruit salad juices, tinned pineapple and coconut notes akin to gorse flowers and a little heather honey. Mouth: superb arrival, lovely balance between sweetness, medicine, herbs, light waxes, natural cereal notes and a pretty clear and vivid coastal quality. Pure, top quality, modern Highland Park with everything in its place. A nice streak of light peat running beneath as well. With water: really great texture and balance now. Punchy herbal and heathery notes, natural and quiet textural sweetness while still remaining nicely coastal, herbal and medical. Finish: long, lemony, bright, slightly minty and super fresh! Comments: top notch distillate from a perfect cask. Love the feeling of sunshine and freshness that practically climbs out of the glass here. Kudos to the Thompson crew for a very natural and down to earth selection. More of this sort of thing please Mr Edrington!
SGP: 562 - 90 points.