My last Highland Park was back on the 7th January, the end of a pretty long series exploring the main offerings of HP, part of that series begun in October 2022 when @cascode sent me a dram of Valknut, an intense and complex pour that I enjoyed greatly. I was excited then to get my hands on the first in the ‘Val’ series (officially Viking Legends), the Valkyrie. Fifteen HPs later and the Valfather still escaped me. Not anymore, the great @cascode has come to the rescue and delivered me a fantastic batch of samples including Valfather. As became a bit of a tradition during my HP series… let’s check in with Clementine from marketing. Clementine is on work experience and hopes one day to be a social media influencer: “Valfather is inspired by Odin, the mightiest and most complex of the Norse gods, who’s associated with wisdom, sorcery, poetry, death, wolves, and ravens. An intriguingly complex figure, it only follows that this whisky should be just as complex…Winning Gold in the 2020 World Whisky Awards, Valfather is our most peated whisky to date, reflecting Odin’s power. Matured entirely in our finest refill casks to ensure that all that peat is balanced with subtle layers of flavour and character to mirror the ethereal and lighter feel of Valhalla, Odin’s hall. The packaging for the whole series was created by Jim Lyngvild, a Danish designer and artist of international renown, whose great grandfather 36 generations ago was Ragnvald Eysteinsson, the first Earl of the Orkney Islands.” Eugh, 36 generations ago I’m pretty sure we can all claim some fame somewhere! Anyway, the smokiest HP to date? Am I going to be drinking heavy and ashy liquid smoke like Valkyrie, or something stacked with HP heather florals like the standard age statements? Let’s find out… N: Slight ethanol sting to an otherwise phenolic richly pear opening. Slightly sour green cooking apples and wonderfully thick floral smoke. A lightly vanilla and nutmeg spiced undercurrent builds as the ethanol slightly clears in the glass. The smoke changes to slightly more ashy over time. Sadly the raw spirit twang never completely clears. P: Thump. A big and brash arrival of tingling slightly sulphurous embers, a metallic tinge and pepper with a main thread of juicy apple(?). A surprisingly thin mouth feel then for such an almighty industrial open. Behind the borderline harsh initial notes there is some vanilla cream, brown sugar, and beautiful floral-perfumed heathers and cedar. Perhaps a citrus spritzed marzipan? And a smoky-salty note just appears at the back end. F: Medium. Florals shine but black pepper dominates with a just too warm presence. The slight metallic tinge creeps back in as does some juicy sweetness. Woah. This is one heck of a rollercoaster. The peat is certainly ramped up but where I was expecting dark and ashy like Valkyrie I found instead what I think is the most intensely floral-perfumed whisky I’ve tasted to date. I love HP florals. But, what I really don’t like in whisky is two things: (1) is sulphurous tones (learned that from Glenrothes), and (2) Loch Lomond. I think some slightly younger and untamed HP has snuck in the blend here and presents as raw ethanol spirit on the nose and sulphurous-metallic tinges in the palate. It’s noticeable enough that it detracts from what is an evolving and complexly layered dram. Whilst my score likely doesn’t reflect my negative points, Valfather does rank below the other two in the series. I just love these florals too much to drag it down lower. A highly enjoyable and challenging dram that rounds out a really excellent three part set from Highland Park. Thanks again @cascode. Slaite! [Pictured here with another Viking themed rock, this time a Mylonite from Lom, Norway. How fast does a fault move? About a mile-a-night! This rock with its stretched and streaky appearance was formed during the Scandanavian Calodenides; an intense period of mountain building that occurred during the collision of the ancient continents Baltica and Laurentia. Although tectonic plates smashing together would cause compression, extension in the hinterlands due to mountain collapse resulted in the formation of a ductile fault/shear zone that stretched and smeared rocks into these ropy mylonitic fabrics.] Distiller whisky taste #157 HP Running ranking: 10: 3.75 12: 4 15: 4.25 18: 4.75 25: 4.75 Valknut: 4.25 Valkyrie: 4.25 Valfather: 4 Dragon Legend: 3.25 Voyage of the Raven: 3.5 Spirit of the Bear: 3.25 Loyalty of the Wolf: 2.75 Wings of the Eagle: 4 The Light: 4.25 The Dark: 5 Mjolner: 4.5