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20th March 2013 |
Highland Park Loki 15
year old the 2nd release in the Valhalla Collection.
 Highland
Park have announced the
release of the second section of its
build your own mini Viking long ship
kit, just kidding. Highland
Park fans will be pleased to hear that
Highland Park have announced the release
of the second of four limited edition
bottlings in The Valhalla Collection.
Highland
Park Loki 15 year old takes its name and inspiration from a
legendary Nordic god of old and its
flavour profile is
actually designed around the personality
traits of Loki, the god which
it is named after.
The Nordic god
Loki as some people claim was a God of
Fire and was the son of two giants. A shape
shifter who appears in the form of a
salmon, a mare, a seal and a fly,
Loki is traditionally a troublemaker
of the highest order. Loki seems a
very good name for a very different
complex Highland Park and hopefully it
is.
I have been told that Loki is
unquestionably Highland Park but mirrors
the unpredictable, shape shifting Loki
character and as with the trickster god
of fire himself, all is not as it seems.
I'm told that it has classic traces of
sweetness and spice, but it has been
matured in both traditional Spanish
sherry casks and also some heavily
peated casks, giving it a smoky punch,
while retaining a light colour. The
finish is intriguing and complex. It is
a whisky constantly changing, chameleon
like, from appearance to finish and the
few lucky and expert palates who have
savoured it have described it as
"enigmatic" and "truly another whisky of
the Gods."
Those of you who
like every detail of how the whisky came
about may be wondering what exactly are
these heavily peated peated casks.
Highland Park tell me that they
had a small number of casks with spirit
which was crafted using non-Orcadian
peat, due to issues in obtaining the
traditional aromatic peat at the time.
So instead of smoking the barley with
the Orkney peat, it was instead smoked
with peat from the mainland, Caithness
to be specific. This peat has an
entirely different composition therefore
influencing the final spirit in a more
defined way than that of the aromatic
peat inherent to the Highland Park
character. Some of the whisky which went
into Loki was matured in these casks
which previously held this heavily
peated Highland Park.
Gerry Tosh,
Highland Park Global Marketing Manager,
says, "While everyone will recognise the
definite ‘Highland Park-ness’ of this 15
year old single malt, it will be the
unexpected and surprisingly smoky
dynamics that will really get palates
excited and mouths talking. This is
unlike any expression that has come
before and will beguile and fascinate
with its complexity and trickery.
Remember, all is not as it seems."
Highland Park Loki, a
15 year old limited edition of 21,000
bottles was
bottled at 48.7% abv, comes housed in
the same unique Viking long ship wooden
frame as Thor and will be available from
specialist whisky retailers, RRP of
£130.
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Highland Park Loki 15 Year Old Tasting Notes
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Producer's Tasting Notes:
Nose: A spirited lift of dried
bitter orange which quickly turns into
lemon peels. Cardamom notes trick then
tease the nose, before an enticing hit
of gingerbread develops. With water,
liquorice and aromatic smoke are both
unleashed.
Taste: The true shape shifting
ability of Loki springs to life on the
palate: its waxy texture is amplified by
an intense smoke that doesn't appear on
the nose, shattering the light citrusy
illusion of the aroma. All is not what
it seems. The smoke fades as liquorice
and rich spiced apple flavours come out
to play. Lemon and grapefruit are
consistent throughout this elusive, yet
intriguing character. With a touch of
water, lingering notes of melted dark
chocolate over spent embers leave a soft
smoky impression.
Finish: As Loki departs, he
leaves behind toasted cloves, hickory
smoke and soft vanilla. It is constantly
changing, from appearance to finish.
Loki is an enigma and truly another
whisky of the gods.
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Highland Park Valhalla Collection
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Possible
future Highland Park Valhalla
Collection Releases
The Highland Park Valhalla Collection
will be a series of four limited release
bottlings.
The first release was
Highland
Park Thor and the second is
Highland Park Loki, so what other two Norse God’s are possible
candidates to find there way into
Highland Park legend? My guess is to
watch out for the following future
releases in the Highland Park Valhalla
Collection:
- Highland Park Odin
Leader of
the gods and father of Thor. The old
English name for Odin is Woden and
this is where we get the name
Wednesday, from Woden's Day. We
wouldn't have known what day it is
if it hadn't been for the Norse
gods.
- Highland Park Freya
Goddess of fertility. If this is
released I am not sure it will do
anything for your fertility but taken in
moderation it could work well as an
aphrodisiac, lol.
- Highland Park
Tyr
God of combat, glory and honour. A
carving of Tyr can be found on Hadrian’s
Wall, which marked the border between
England and Scotland during the Roman
rule. Tuesday is named after Tyr (Tiw’s
day). Could be a powerful expression
packed with layers of Highland Park
smoke.
- Highland Park Baldr
No Baldr is not the god of receding
hair lines. He is one of Odin’s
sons, Baldr is the god of innocence,
purity, and joy. Of course if you
are getting a little thin on top you
could try rubbing some in but
probably best drinking it besides
its well known that whisky will only
put hair on your chest not your
head.
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Where To Buy Highland Park Whisky Online
|
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Select a country for a list
of specialist Whisky shops who delivers
to you:
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Whisky Focus
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