Highland Park 1990/2010 20 Year old

Highland Park distillery is located in Kirkwall on Orkney and is Scotland’s northernmost whisky distillery. It was founded in 1798, presumably by Magnus Eunson; however the distillery did not obtain a license until 1826. Apparently the name of the whisky produced does not refer to the area of Scotland known as The Highlands but rather to the fact that the distillery was founded on an area called “High Park”. Highland Park is one of only a few distilleries where the custom of turning malt by hand still takes place, with some 20% of the malt used coming from Orkney. This 20-year old was first released in 2010 and was originally created for distribution through global travel retail. According to Highland Park the proportion of first-fill European sherry casks is higher than in expressions of comparable age.

The nose is quite fruity, with dried fruits and oranges playing the leading roles. There are also hints of nutmeg and peaches.

The palate is light-bodied and spicy. Caramel and vanilla are followed by a nice nuttiness.

The finish is of medium length, remains spicy and gets quite dry towards the end. Again, there is a healthy dose of caramel.

I am not sure about this one. The nose seems reasonably complex but I cannot get rid of the feeling that it is all a bit bland. The palate was definitely too light in my opinion – has anyone thought about bottling this at 46% ABV? A fair number of reviewers detected smoke in this whisky, I did not. This was an underwhelming experience. I do expect a little bit more from a 20-year old.

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