Highland Park Svein

Smoky orange

Tasted next to the Alaskan waters Nose - sweetness here Taste - a hint of peat, light notes of floral and maybe a bit of fruit Finish - smooth, short length with some honey and a quick hit of smoke on the back end of this Score - 3.0, not strong in any which way, short flavors everywhere Scoring Legend 5.0 - Outstanding, unmatched to others 4.5 - Excellent, I will always keep a bottle in stock if possible 4.0 - Very good, quite enjoyable to drink, can consider as a solid choice 3.5 - Good, would taste again 3.0 - Average 2.5 - Acceptable, still drinkable 2.0 - Inferior, able to drink but not enjoyable 1.5 and below—wouldn’t drink again unless I am desperate

Another expression from the travel retail "Warrior Series", this Highland Park tells the story of Sveinn Asleifarson, a pirate and mercenary viking who was powerful and known to be fair, while he raided the hebridean isles of Scotland. Bottled at 40%abv, tawny color. On the nose it is very nice, with earthy peaty notes. Burnt hay, horse stable, cigarrettes, ashtray, vanilla, burnt brownie crest. After the first sip, the aroma changed into burnt popcorn. The palate is cold, that i did not expect. Very herbal and medicinal; some citric notes rise after a couple of seconds. Pepper. A second sip felt like i dropped ice on the dram, it is very cold!. Vanilla ice cream. Aftertaste was very simple. Dry and grassy. Burnt grass, hay and sulphuric notes. Overall, i think this is an interesting, yet normal whisky. The cold feeling on the palate was very appealing, i really like finding this kind of notes on my whiskies. My score for it is 84 over 100.

Nose: Sweet meadow blossom honey, malt extract, orange peel and a little touch of earthy peat smoke. While seemingly simplistic at first the nose blooms over time to reveal itself as a petite but very well balanced parcel of aromas. Mild barley sugar and a herbal note like crushed bracken fern waft in the background. Palate: A gentle arrival with sweet cereal as the main character. There's some orange notes, dark malt and a herbal presence in the development but unfortunately it has a watery and weak personality. You can sense the presence of good sherry casks through a fresh woody note and some crisp spice, but their contribution is weak and diffuse. Finish: Short. Malty, but it tails off very quickly into a nondescript and mildly tannic aftertaste with a tiny lingering memory of smoke. Instantly recognisable as Highland Park, but in a soft and cosy form. Less briskly fresh than the 10 or 12 year old expressions, and way less complex than the 18. It starts out well but in every stage of tasting it drops down a notch until bottoming-out with a very short finish. The nose is light and soft but good, however the palate does not quite live up to its obvious potential. 40% was absurdly too weak a strength for such an understated whisky profile - at 46% this would have been a considerably better dram. The finish is frustratingly short - one of the fastest finishes I've ever tasted on an HP. This is another of the seemingly endless Viking hero/ethos/culture series that have emerged from this distillery over the last few years. Sigh. I dream of the day when Edrington puts this marketing strategy behind them and lets the distillery knuckle down to just making the best possible age statement whiskies it can. The official tasting notes here are accurate but 79 is a harsh score for this pleasant dram which, with all it's shortcomings, is still better than average quality. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)