Highland Park 15 yo 'Viking Heart' (44%, OB, 2021)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: one of the few official HPs that actually gravitates more towards many of these 'Orkney' malts that are ubiquitous amongst today's indy bottlers. Which is no bad thing! Lots of fresh cereals drizzled with heather honey, pebbles, pollens, sultanas, old school shilling ales (a kind of dark, foamy and creamy bitter beer common in Scotland but more popular in previous decades) and also things like leather and mineral oils. There's also a strong impression of citrus rinds and coastal freshness running underneath that keeps everything lively and buoyant. Mouth: the wood feels a tad more assertive up front, but there's some nice notes of bitter marmalade, blood orange, grapefruit pith, treacle and kumquat. Juicy, quite fruity and with a nicely balanced texture and weight in the mouth - the ABV feels quite smartly chosen in this regard. Finish: medium, nicely bitter, green herbs, dried flowers, leather, mineral oil and a wee kiss of heathery peat. Comments: quite a charming and pretty smart new bottling I think. A very well balanced strength, lots of distillery character and extremely sippable. Primed and ready for your tumbler I would say. Also, are ceramics back? Is that a thing once more?
SGP: 563 - 86 points.

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Torino Import, -/+ 1990)
Colour: orangey gold. Nose: dusty waxes, pollens, soft herbal peat, young Armagnac, sultanas and a general feeling of rather lusciously fruity old style sherry. You might also add a few drops of aged herbal liqueurs, cough medicines and umami paste. Impeccable old school Highland Park. Mouth: resinous, fruity and perfectly salty old school sherry alongside herbal Orkney peat, salted honey, fir wood, herbal liqueurs and cocktail bitters. Some acacia, wormwood and liquorice root too. Just perfect! Finish: good length, on liquorice, heathery peat, fruity and rather nervous sherry, minerals, leather and medical ointments. Comments: benchmark old school HP. A library in a glass!
SGP: 653 - 91 points.

Highland Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Ferarreto import, 1980)
This one comes from a rather outlandish presentation case with two branded tumblers and a certificate stating it was bottled in celebration of the newly re-branded official 12 year old, dated 1980. I've tried a similar one before that may have been the same batch (WF90) Colour: amber. Nose: a bit of OBE at first, this feeling of metal polish and bouillon soup. Beneath than though there's this pretty typical mix of old school, rather leafy and resiny sherry. Fir wood, ointments, cough medicines and natural tar. Although, globally it's not as expressive or fruity as the Torino. Mouth: good arrival, rather spicy and on exotic hardwood resins, camphor, tea tree oil and spiced figs. A gentle peat with more wood resins, ointments, olive oil and cedar wood cigar boxes. It's excellent but there's still a bit of OBE persisting. Finish: good length, very focused on herbal liqueurs and syrupy mentholated ointments now, cough mixtures, liquorice, wormwood, verbena and tobacco. Comments: top notch, and truth be told I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same batch as the last bottle I opened back on Orkney in 2017. This one probably just didn't travel quite as well, these wee OBE touches prevent it from reaching 90 I'd say.
SGP: 454 - 88 points.

Orkney Single Malt 10 yo 2011/2021 (54%, Thompson Brothers, refill hogshead, 387 bottles)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: sharp, pure and rather citric. Pebbles, chalk, crystalline and brittle peat smoke, some white pepper and sheep wool. Bish, bash, bosh. With water: becomes perfectly coastal, more of these subtle white flower and pollen notes, more beach wood, seashells and touches of ink. Mouth: pretty impeccable distillate in plain wood. Coal smoke, dried herbs, pebbles, sandalwood, chalk, white flowers and mineral oils. With water: becomes a little more emphatic and oily in texture. A lovely impression of smoked olive oil, touches of camphor, cod liver oil, miso and umami paste. Finish: long, peppery, very subtle threads of peat smoke, more dried herbs and more punchy umami and miso vibes. Comments: you can tell this cask was selected by Ramen enthusiasts. No messing about here, top notch young modern HP.
SGP: 463 - 88 points.

Orkney Single Malt 13 yo 2008/2021 (53.2%, Thompson Brothers, refill hogshead, 356 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: richer in style and a little more dominated but herbal-accented smoke, coal embers, hessian, sandalwood, gorse flowers and wee touches of olive oil and putty. With water: mineral oils, beach sand, pink sea salt, dried herbs and gauze. Mouth: herbal cough syrup, smoked olive oil and light smoked teas, pasta water, umami paste, seawater, lemon peel, verbena. Lots of subtle coastal and medicinal things going on. Excellent as usual with these batches. With water: great texture, nicely medical, some camphor, bandages, seawater and herbs. Finish: long, faintly smoky, sooty, herbal and very fresh. Comments: these batches from humble hoggies or barrels are all top notch. The only issue is that, because they've been vatted previously and re-casked by Edrington, they are still very similar to each other, so spotting differences can be a bit like panning for gold - or playing Where's Wally.
SGP: 463 - 88 points.

Secret Orkney 13 yo 2008/2021 (54.6%, Dram Mor, cask #137, Fijian rum finish, 321 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: I don't detect too much rum initially, rather more wet rocks, rope, hessian, crushed seashells, ink and clay. Lots of cloths and minerals essentially, which feels bright and pretty appealing. With water: some sort of hot vinyl and acrylic. Poster paints, printer toner and some olive bread. Quite funny really. Mouth: rather earthy and vegetal on arrival, some more petrolic aspects, cough medicines, aniseed, lambic ales, plasticine. Not sure I could tell you what the rum is actually doing, but it's doing something that's for sure! (I'm really trying for 'most unhelpful tasting note of the year') Perhaps there's more of an agave / cactus flesh vibe here. With water: a little lighter, grassier, more playful, some white flowers, pebbles and more classical 'Orkney Malt' stuff. More cereals but also still some rather mechanical and oily touches. Finish: medium, on aniseed, seawater, clay, ointments and mineral salts. Comments: It's a bit all over the place and I'm not too sure about some of these more whacky plasticine notes, but it remains quite fun and whatever else this rum brings to the table, it at least doesn't totally dominate the conversation.
SGP: 462 - 83 points. 

Highland Park 14 yo 2007 (54.3%, Lady Of The Glen, cask #800453, bourbon barrel, 214 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: a very fresh nose full of sweet coconut, cream soda, barley water, trampled ferns and, with some time, also some firmer underlying notes of hessian and olive oil. There's also still a feeling of coastal qualities about it, despite the evidently quite active cask. I'm a fan! With water: things like muesli, mustard powder, dried flowers, pebbles and bandages. Mouth: creamy, lightly grassy, some brittle smokiness, wet canvass, lemon barley water, hessian, cloves and ginger. Walks a very fine tight rope between cask and distillate character - but in the end it remains quite clearly some excellent modern Highland Park. With water: at its best now I would say, perfectly balanced between natural sweetness, barley sugars, hessian, coal smoke and mineral oil. Finish: good length, faintly peaty, peppery, sunflower oil, sandalwood and gorse. Comments: yet more very excellent modern Highland Park, the cask has a clear voice here but it has nothing but pleasant things to say and adds a refreshing twist to this very familiar profile. Recommended!
SGP: 662 - 88 points.

An Orkney 14 yo 2007/2021 (58.8%, Lady Of The Glen, refill hogshead and oloroso sherry finish, 348 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: golden syrup, sultanas, gingerbread, honey cake and olive oil. Fresh, sweet and very approachable. An elegant leafy and earth side that emerges with time, along with wee whiffs of eucalyptus oil and things like camphor and myrtle. With water: lemon verbena, dried herbs, nori and soy sauce. Becomes quite saline in that respect and nicely umami. Mouth: the sherry influence is quite forwards and gives the impression of salted mead, liquorice, olive oil cake, heather flowers and bitter shilling ales. The robustness of the HP is a good match for it I'd say. With water: similarly punchy salinity, leafy notes, tobacco, hessian, cocoa and a touch of wood spice. Finish: good length, still quite salty, umami, herbal and with star anise and some herbal bitters. Comments: a very good and no doubt very smart finish, I just prefer the LOTG bourbon barrel HP above this one.
SGP: 562 - 86 points.

Secret Orkney 13 yo 2007/2020 (56.1%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams, sherry)
Colour: ruby/mahogany. Nose: punchy modern sherry with a lot of hardwood shavings, black coffee, pecans, salted liquorice and things like black olive tapenade and Bovril. The wood is pretty active but it's quite singular, clean and direct. I just couldn't recognise a distillery behind it is all I'd say. With water: aniseed, pine resins, cough syrup, cherry throat lozenges and rosewood. Mouth: more of these big and immediate impressions of hardwood resins, thuja wood, exotic spiced teas, jasmine and graphite oil. The wood really starts to become a little too punchy for me I have to say. With water: some juicer dark fruit qualities such as various compotes and fruit loaf, but also some pretty bitter dark chocolate and espresso notes too. Bullish tannins and black pepper giving a sense of heat. Some 1950s Fernet Branca too. Finish: long, tannic, herbal, bitter chocolate, wood spices and touches of leather. Comments: the cask was a little too brutal and monolithic for me, but I have no doubt lovers of this modern and very spicy sherry style will lap this up.
SGP: 472 - 85 points.

Highland Park 12 1/2 yo 'The 26 Drammers' (57.1%, OB 'Viking Soul Cask', cask #500118, sherry firkin, 54 bottles, 2019)
Who are these 26 Drammers? Presumably they each get 2 bottles and then participate in some kind of drinking battle royale to decide who gets the two that are leftover out of 54? Colour: light amber. Nose: slightly different to some other casks in this series, I find it leaner, more earthy, more mineral and with more tertiary notes going on. Tobacco leaf, game meats, tea tree oil, wood resins and tiger balm. Very good! In time it becomes a tad more mentholated and aromatic. With water: more wood resins, green tea, verbena, eucalyptus and these persistent, slightly jagged mineral touches. Mouth: rather creamy on arrival, furniture polish, salted caramel, wood resins, more medicinal balms, herbal teas, soot, camphor and treacle. Active wood but clean and well-integrated I'd say. With water: cough medicines, wormwood, lanolin, tobacco leaf, salted liquorice and a wee touch of creamy vanilla. Finish: long, nicely resinous, slightly salty, some game meats and plenty balanced bitter herbs. Comments: I suppose, if you are going to do a micro-exclusive official bottling such as this for fans of your whisky, it had better be good juice! I cannot lie, I rather enjoy these resinous and creamy profiles created by these wee firkins. Do they mature new make in the refills? They should!
SGP: 563 - 88 points.

Highland Park 14 yo 'HPAS Danmark Edition 2' (55.8%, OB 'Viking Soul Cask', cask #500176, sherry firkin, 54 bottles, 2020)
Colour: rosewood. Nose: precious hardwood resins, teak oil, furniture polish and freshly sawn rosewood. Inhaling the inside of a freshly constructed acoustic guitar. There's some fruits as well such as classic raisins and sultanas, also dark chocolate sauce and some rather fruity black coffee. It escapes the trappings of being overly woody - so far, anyway - by being rather scented and aromatic with all these resinous and polish notes. With water: fruit loaf, madeira cake, sticky gingerbread, cloves, incense. Feels rather highly concentrated even with water. Mouth: active but clean wood with a lot of spices, nutmeg, ginger, salted liquorice, espresso and umami paste. Incorporates more notes of furniture and boot polish, more wood resins and some kind of sticky spiced jam. With water: opens up a little more here, some strawberry wine, Belgian fruit beers, aniseed, herbal cough medicines and a more general feeling of 'Highland Parkness'. Finish: long, highly resinous, spiced fruit compote, damsons stewed in armagnac, bitter espresso and wood spices. Comments: let's not kid ourselves, this is a pretty wood dominated dram, and I tend to prefer the 'lighter touch' style of the 26 Drammers. But glimmers of HP do absolutely remain, and I would say this sort of wood treatment is starting to feel very much like an 'Edrington house style' anyway. I have to say, I rather enjoy it, even though it's not normally my preferred style. Now, let's also not forget that there were a mere 54 bottles of this juice, so it's all pretty anecdotal anyway.
SGP: 572 - 87 points.

Highland Park 14 yo '26 Drammers #2' (55.9%, OB 'Viking Soul Cask', cask #500171, sherry firkin, 56 bottles, 2020)
Let's keep this brief… Colour: mahogany (why not?) Nose: ok, actually it's not an identikit sibling. This one's a little tighter, leaner, more narrow and more mineral. Some notes of boot polish, animal furs, marrow, coffee and more of these spiced dark fruits. Feels ever so slightly fresher and less on overtly active wood than the HPAS bottling. With water: more aligned now, lots of wood spices, resins, strong black teas, salted liquorice and star anise. Mouth: punchy, directly on black coffee, liquorice and star anise. Weighty, spicy and clean. With water: a notch fruitier, hot cross buns with cinnamon and singed raisins and sultanas. Hessian cloth and roof pitch. Finish: long, slightly tarry, bitterly herbal, dark chocolate and these ever-present wood spices. Comments: I couldn't tell you which of these 14yo versions I preferred, so I think we'll just be boringly diplomatic. Although, once again, I think the slightly less active firkins are more my speed.
SGP: 572 - 87 points.

Highland Park 14 yo 'Mjolner' (56.5%, OB, b2019, 1731 bottles, 2019)
A special bottling exclusively available through the Mjolner bars belonging to Australian company The Speakeasy Group. No doubt celebrating those notorious Viking raids of the Sydney harbour in the mid 800s. In fact Serge, I believe they used French submarines, if I'm not mistaken… Colour: amber. Nose: well, hello! A rather sticky and orangey sherry at first, gloopy bitter marmalade with coriander seed, marzipan, orgeat syrup, almond oil, fir wood, natural tar and treacle sponge pudding. Wonderfully dense, sticky and with a distinct feeling of 'guilty pleasure'. With water: orange oils, bergamot, lapsing souchong, hessian, cocoa and more dark grains. Mouth: the sherry is up front once again, lots of strong dark tea, spicy dark grained breads, stout beers, bitter chocolate, herbal cocktail bitters, aniseed, cough medicine and wintergreen. Probably a few notches too tannic for me, which I find very often with modern cask strength sherried HPs. Goes on with more chocolate, leather and tobacco - very classical in that regard. With water: still rather punchy and focussed on bitter marmalade, herbal extracts, pumpernickel, dark chocolate with sea salt, umami paste and hessian. Finish: long, quite bitter, big notes of strong black tea, raisins, tobacco leaf, more marzipan and liquorice. Comments: a beast that never quite yields. There's plenty fun to be had here, and the sherry is clean, it's just a tad too tannic for me.
SGP: 473 - 86 points.

A Fine Christmas Malt 16 yo (53.2%, The Whisky Exchange, 2200 bottles)
A combination of a sherry butt and some hogsheads of Highland Park apparently. Although, I wonder why the label says 'Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky' as opposed to 'Island'? Colour: pale gold. Nose: there's a definite sherry component here with these initial notes of leather, fruit cake and golden syrup. I also find some more heathery and beery vibes which feels quite Orcadian. A little eucalyptus and tobacco as well. With water: boot polish, leather, hessian, chocolate and some very slight menthol touches. Very good. Mouth: feels peatier than expected on arrival, a lovely combination of more old school earthy and meaty sherry with lighter herbal HP peat smoke. More leather, dried mint, heather ales, wee honeyed touches and some treacle. I suppose it does feel somewhat Christmassy. With water: at its best now I would say, nicely earthy, umami, sooty and perfectly bitter with menthol tobacco, dried herbs and some verbena. Finish: good length, sooty, slightly minty, herbal teas, hessian, cocoa and a slight mineral aspect. Comments: some clever cask mixing has occurred here, feels like the balance of sherry and HP peat has been struck nicely.
SGP: 563 - 87 points.