Highland Park Cask Strength (Relase No. 2)

MUST BUY!

DISTILLERY	Highland Park
REGION	Kirkwall, Scotland
AGE	NAS
STRENGTH	63.9% ABV (127.8 Proof)
MASHBILL	100% Malted Barley
MSRP	~$80-90

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GLANCE

Clear with medium intensity and gold-amber color

NOSE

Clean with pronounced intensity. Beautiful bouquet  of fruits, spices and oak. You get stewed fruits and jammy notes (strawberries and raspberries). Then I get strong notes of dates, raisins, and orange citrus + marmalade. There is a perfect amount of peatiness with sweat oakiness. Balanced notes of clove, nutmeg, and peanut butter. As it opens up I got honey as well with beautiful citrus aromas.

PALATE

Right away you get toffee, caramel, sweet oak, rich dark fruits, honey, and molasses. The peatiness enters perfectly enriching the flavors with nice smokiness in the background. As it opens up more, notes of caramel and brown sugar enter. The slight smokiness in the background mixes in with some maple syrup notes that round off the palate.

FINISH

Long and very complex. You get everything you got the nose + palate. In addition you get baking spices, peatiness with fresh clover honey.

CLOSING REMARKS

Wow what a dram. From the first crack, I kept wanting more. Its something you can drink on its own and focus on it but also have an enjoyable drink while at a party. It highlights Highland Park Strength’s and its an amazing flavor bomb at the price. Note from the distillery:

For this second release in the Cask Strength series, Gordon Motion, our Master Whisky Maker, selected mainly sherry seasoned European and American oak casks, along with just a few ex-bourbon casks. You’ll find aromas of summer rose, ripe pear and fresh coconut gathering on a wave of aromatic peat smoke, followed by a wild harmony of sweet and spicy flavours – poached pear and rich almond cake, a drizzle of cloudy honey and a twist of salty liquorice. There’s the suggestion of toasted oak and intriguing notes of orchard fruits, black pepper and sweet aniseed linger, in a satisfyingly long finish. In a word (or three) we call it ‘smoky peppered praline’.

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