Highland Park The Dark 17 Year

After trying out the Highland Park 12 and 18, I was lucky enough to get a sample of this expression. Nose - Obviously needs some time in the glass for the bouquet to open. Opening with brown sugar, vanilla and a hint of oak before leading into the wonderful notes of fruits; sherry, dates and plums. The tiniest bit of smoke is present in the background. After some five or ten minutes and with the addition of a little water, more spicy notes drift onto the scene: cinnamon and baking spices. Palate - Flavor bomb. Due to the higher ABV, the taste is intense and not for the weak hearted. I experience the whisky mainly as sweet and sour, with notes of red fruits and sherry, banana, honey, caramel, and the slightest bit of smoke. Adding a splash of water makes the experience even more intense. Finish - The finish is long, sweet and oily and is more of the complex kind. There are flavors that I can't put my finger on, and that really makes this whisky an interesting experience. A sample doesn't give me enough time to dive into the flavor profile of this whisky, and that's a shame. I'm hopeful that I'll come across this whisky again on my whisky journey. Or maybe it will soon end up on my top shelf of my whisky collection? I'm always hopeful. "Excellent" : 4.25 stars | Really quite exceptional.

Now that #dryjanuary is over, I want to start my new whisky year properly with a selection of amazing whisky that I collected over the last few months - most of which have been recommendations from you guys. Here we go with the first one. 

Highland Park 17y The Dark Nose: super fragrant ripe orchard fruits (dark cherries, apples, peaches, pears and plums) on a warm early autumn day, a super creamy vanilla infused with a nice rich peat (not ashy or smoky ... more like blown out matches), lots of florals as well (like blossoming orchard fruits trees), lots of dark forest-honey, blackberry jam, very rich and deep from the sherry casks that they used with lots of oak wood influences, all so very up front and vibrant. The second nose presents an insane creamy coffee and orange chocolate - that was there probably before - I just didn’t notice. Super interesting. Palate: sherry soaked wood and the peat lie dry and saturated on the tongue, it takes quite a long time for it to smooth out and release an incredible caramel creme brûlée and soft vanilla butter cookies. The final palate is really heavy and rich but still with a vibrant dryness. The second palate is a lot more sweet and feels much more balanced too. You get some nice additional bitter flavors like anise, hops, lime peel, wood chips. Very nice. Finish: medium long and well balanced. In the middle of all the extrem spectrums it presented on the nose and palate, you find bits and pieces of all kind of things popping up (port, wood, dry spices, fruit seeds, honey / wax, hops) have you ever had pine tree honey - that’s what I get here too. After all the praise from you guys I convinced myself to get my hands on this bottle. And wow is it good. It is insane how the nose and palate transforms / rebalances over the course of a dram. It has the typical Highland Park DNA including the roughness / dryness but here it definitely is in-place and likeable. This is good whisky. Period. Very well crafted and blended. By the way - the packaging of this special edition is amazing. Not only is the bottle itself very cool with that large emblem directly formed in the glas but it comes in a black wooden open box with engravings - everything of very high quality I want to add. 
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A word on my 2021 resolutions: Over the last two years I really tried to dig deep into this new hobby of mine and now after over 200 different tasted whiskies I came to a conclusion: even though I can really enjoy normal / average whisky, I found myself in a position where I want to make every dram I drink from my own collection to be at least amazing if not spectacular. 

Why? I cautiously try to monitor my alcohol intake to keep drinking a healthy hobby, which officially means 100g alcohol per week across 5 days. And this is not a lot (1 dram with 50% ABV on 5 days in one week with two “dry“ days in between). And since money isn’t that big of an issue at the moment I will try to create a collection where every whisky is at least a great experience and it doesnt feel like I wasted my intake limit with something “just nice”. All subjective of course. Think “Why drink the 12 or 15y if you can get the 18 or 21y.”

While this means that most of the whiskys I am aiming for are only starting at 3 digit prices, there are of course quite a few very affordable bottles that still give me the joy I am looking for in the future. (Like Kilkerran 12, Uigeadail, BenRiach with quite a few expressions as well as Arran, Balblair, Benromach and of course Kilchoman.) Of course I will finish my current collection but I also already outed a few bottles and samples as well. New purchases will be picked much more carefully with this goal in mind. And that means no more impulsive purchases. Thank god we have severeal amazing Online Stores here in Germany / Europe that professionally sell Whisky samples, which makes this a lot easier. So here on Distiller I am looking forward to a great lineup over the next couple of days that I want to share with you guys here. In the weeks after that I will be revisiting my favourites from last year. And after that I will go back and forth with drams from my collection as well as new samples. 

I already have quite a few bottles on my wishlist but I would be happy to get recommendations from you guys for other top shelve whiskies up to 400$. So, happy new year to all of you fine people again. And if you have, what are you guys’ new years resolutions in whisky? Slainte Mhath

Amazingly smoky. On the nose is very sweet, citrus, apples. Once you take a sip then the peat and smoke comes. Even at 52% ABV, it doesn't feel like it. Ending in some dark chocolate and creamy feeling.

A little more smoke and peat

Some days i am just plain happy that one day i learned how to properly taste whisky. This is one of those days. I simply loved this dram, because it felt exactly what i needed. I really had a sample for months without even caring to open it, and boy was i mistaken. Highland Park the Dark is the counterpart of "The light", both 17yo whiskies. It represents the winter and autumn weathers in Orkney, and it has one of those vikings snakes as a logo. Matured in sherried european oak casks. Bottled at 52.9%abv, tawny color. On the nose, it is a complex mixture between Chocolate sweetness, Citrus aromas and mild peatiness. Starts very perfumed, with an amazing chocolate bathed raisins. Prunes, chocolate powder. The heathery peat is dim, but it is there. Chocolate cake. It actually FEELS dark colored; chocolate, dried dark fruits. Lemon, mashmallow. Not very peaty. After the first sip, aroma became peatier and also a caramel note arrived. After the third sip, it just went crazy, all about oranges, caramel and thick chocolate. On the palate, it is so amazing, you can actually hold it in your mouth for 3 minutes. Starts very winey, with grapes and dried fruits. Peat and smoke in a very mild and pleasant way. Also pepper and sulphuric notes, very well delivered. Prunes. Aftertaste is all about peat. It is incredibly rewarding. Starts smokey, cigarrettes, very dry from the peat. Earthy, amazingly smokey and peaty. Hidden chocolate exists under the peat. Overall, when i started writting this review, the whisky had something near 95 points. As i took more sips, it felt even greater. It gave me a nice, complex experience. For a 52.9%abv, no alcohol note is felt, but it gives you enough power to inmidiately feel electricity in your body. It ended with a 98 over 100 score, and it should be 100. It felt like perfection. I will stick to the 98 because of my scoring system, but as an experience, i loved it, and i recommend it. Slàinte Mhath.

Definitely a step up from the Light. When I first tried it I thought Bunnahabhain 18..so I had a few sips of that side by side as well. The Bunnahabhain is very heavy treacle toffee dark raisin forward with a fair bit of a sulphur note in flavour even after a year open. The Dark is a mellower and more subtle (once water added) flavour wise. Raisin, prune, cacao, toffee, grape jelly. I do like it very much however the Bunnahabhain 18 is a force of nature (albeit a slightly unbalanced sulphured brutal one) and really puts the HP in its place and overwhelms it flavour wise even at 46%. To be honest after the Bunnahabhain the Dark tastes of next to nothing after a while.. which was definitely not the case when I first tried. I let my palate recover and then the lovely variety of flavours reared their head again. Anyhow the Dark is younger but double the price of the Bunnahabhain and I've spent most if the review waxing on about that so you know what my (slight) preference is! My preference order would be Ice, Fire/Dark, Light I think. 4.25 to 4.5. And that ladies and (mostly) gentlemen after having a large readily at hand pile of samples for the last few years is the last sample dram in my possession. I'd like to thank Master of Malt and Whisky exchange for contributing towards my ability to post notes on a good 400 of my tastings, Dramfest for another 200+ and various other retailers including SM whisky in Aus. I'd say my favourite bar in the world The Last Word contributed another 100 or 2. And last but very much not least various personal friends in NZ as well as Distiller comrades overseas including @PBMichiganWolverine @cascode and @LeeEvolved who via the guise of 'aromatherapy' managed to send me great drams! I think PBM has one more shipment almost with me and then my sample importation endeavours will be drawing to a close.