Telex
Highland Park Valkyrie
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
August 28, 2017 (edited August 29, 2017)
Nose is milder than anticipated, but pleasant. Not as intense as the Dark Origins. Makes me think toffee/caramel with the some peat (it was light for me, but I drink Laphroaig every other day).
On the palate, it's less chocolaty than the Dark Origins, but more sherry/malt influenced. Got some nuts and cream in there too. To me, the finish almost had a very light espresso/coffee with slight alcohol. I liked this more than the Dark Origins as well, so I see why they went with this as a replacement. It is an enjoyable glass, but I wish the finish was less alcohol burn influenced. As a side note, I will pop a couple drops of water to see if it helps. I think it did help with that.. hmm, limit to literally two or three droplets though.
For the price of 80ish bucks though, I think I'd rather get the Ardbeg Oogie, just sayin' =) 73 W3AAX
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I had a Highland Park tasting with Martin Markvardsen last week - HP12, HP18, Valkyrie, Ice & Fire. My personal ranking was: HP18 - Ice - Fire - HP12 - Valkyrie. I wasn't overly impressed by their Dark Origin's replacement and discussed this with Mark. Reason is, they need the first-fill sherry cask for HP18, hence the reason to discontinue Dark Origin's. Lack of casks is also the reason they discontinue HP21. Might return in the future, though. Fingers crossed!
My sentiments exactly. But...kudos to the screw on cork and fancy (albeit useless) bottle design
Sadly seems yet another distillery taken over by the marketing department :-)
At first I was thinking 4 stars, but I had to tame this review and the DO back to three stars. Good decent drams, but not as good as the ones I've rated 4 stars.