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8th February 2018 |
Review of
Highland Park The Dark 17 Year Old.
 Released
at the end of last year and with the hustle
and bustle of Christmas and New Year this one just
may have sneaked under your radar,
Highland Park The Dark 17 Year Old is
the first of a pair of new limited
releases from the Orkney distillery.
The Dark is a release of 28,000 bottles
which have been bottled to celebrate the
autumn and winter months on Orkney, it
has been matured in sherry seasoned
European oak casks and bottled at a very
palatable 52.9% ABV, for my thoughts on
it see my review below.
Highland Park The Dark will be followed
in the spring of this year by Highland
Park The Light, which will celebrate the
spring and summer months on Orkney.
Details of The Light have yet to be
revealed, all I can say at the moment is
that both editions aim to tell the story
of the contrasting seasons on Orkney and
should make a very interesting head to
head comparison tasting that is if they
bottle The Light at the same age and
strength.
The Dark is presented in a black glass
bottle, with the bottle and packaging
reflecting Orkney's Norse and Viking
ancestry. The bottle is accompanied by a
booklet describing the thinking behind
the Norse and Viking
design on the packaging as well as of
course the
whisky in the bottle.
Highland Park The Dark 17 Year Old
has a retail recommend price of £190 and
you will currently find it available from specialist
online whisky shops such as
The Whisky Exchange and
Master of Malt
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Highland Park The Dark 17 Year Old Review
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William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
Enticing dark sherried fruit,
blackberries and sultanas. A touch of
toasty oak, a little cinnamon and the
very faintest whiff of smoke and touch
of honey hiding in the background.
Taste:
Deliciously sweet and spicy rich
sherried oak. The blackberries and
sultanas from the nose are joined by
some orange, there is some sweetness
which is balanced by some dark coffee.
Cinnamon and a little nutty marzipan and
just the faintest touch of smoke adding
to the pleasure.
Finish:
Longish, earthy, dark chocolate infused
with very light peat smoke, lingering
light oaky tones.
Comment:
The European oak sherry seasoned casks
have lent a lovely sherry richness to
this mature Highland Park, it is
undoubtedly a quality sherried Highland
Park, not a sherried monster but a
delicious medium sherried Highland Park
which still lets the quality of the
spirit they produce in Orkney shine
through. For me Highland Park begins to
get exceedingly good around this age and
this is no exception and the bottling
strength of 52.9% ABV just adds to the
pleasure. The finish could have been a
little longer but that is easily
remedied with another mouthful.
If your pockets are deep enough and you
are a Highland Park fan I have no doubt
you will enjoy this.
SMW Score
92/100
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