Highland Park Valknut

The overall experience feels VERY formulaic. Not sure how else to put it. It looked, smelled and tasted like someone went in the lab to “construct” a Highland Park whiskey using some supposedly “true & tested” formula. As in... (and here please imagine a John or Jane Doe in a lab coat)... take equal parts single malt distillate, add x parts heather peat, then quarter parts sherry + y liters of water. Then shake and let sit for z hours. Then more purified water, and add 1/one millionth parts iodine + cold tar = Highland Park whiskey. Don’t know the exact formula but you get the point. Simply put, this pour has NO soul. I didn’t know there’ll come a day when I would describe whiskey in such an esoteric way but here we are. Sure it tastes like whiskey. Sure you can pick up some peat. And sure, you can feel the sherry. Then what? I guess HP was counting on the adage that says “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck”. Except it’s not. More like a plastic facsimile. Luuuucy! Ahem, I mean Hiiigghlaand Paaaark! You got some xplaining to do! Glad I got this on a close out sale for less than $35. I guess that’s why it was discounted. Skip this one. You should have no FOMO on this with confidence 1.25 - 1.5 ⭐️ Sláinte PoD!

Good flavour throughout, doesn't overwhelm the senses

Basically vanilla liquor

My last review on the whiskies from the Highland Park Viking Legends Saga, this time for "Valknut", after having the great Valkyrie and the Not-so-great Valfather. Valknut etimologically comes from "Val" which is a Viking warrior and "Knut", a knot. The symbol to represent a Valknut is three triangles, the ones that appear on the bottle. Talking about the whisky itself, bottled at 46.8%abv, burnished gold color. On the nose, very greasy. BBQ sauce, glazed pork, grease, bacon. After having a first sip, aroma changes into a sweeter profile, with milk chocolate, vanilla. But BBQ is still there. Letting it breath more, will release more vanilla, but also a salty, maritime aroma. On the palate, it becomes sweeter as you take more sips. Starts with bacon, sausages, vanilla and oak spice. Second sip is lot of vanilla and salt. After a third sip, it has become super sweet, a pure vanilla flavor. Aftertaste is where it shows its Highland Park profiles. Smokey, scorched ground, pepper and salt. Prunes and burnt grass. Overall this is a balanced whisky, it stands between the Valfather and Valkyrie. An 87 over a 100 score is fair for it. For the price tag, it is a good dram.

Nose: smoky and meaty. Stonefruit and red fruit. Sweet smell. Stewed pears. Taste: full bodied, sherry cask comes through. Caramel, vanilla, honey and well balanced spices. Finish: chocolate and tobacco, some spicyness.