Highland Park Full Volume

This was dram #4 during an in-store tasting following the rather disappointing JW Ghost & Rare.

When I heard that Highland Park were launching a whisky called full volume, I thought they would be releasing some of their heavily peated stock at Cask Strength. Or perhaps an edition composed of all floor malted barley a little like Laphroaigs' 2015 Cairdeas? Alas no, this is all first-fill bourbon cask from a single distillation year (1999) at 47.2%...so basically this is the kind of thing that is normally sold to independents or brokers.

Nose: Light smoke, latex paint, pencil eraser, honey a little mango, pineapple, dried papaya but the fruits are faint. It takes a while to open up, light citrus, oranges and lemon. You can feel the malt in the back an almost green raw grain feeling.

Palate: Caramel, earthy peat, round, sharp and full, barrel char, vanilla. A little coconut oil, the oak is present too, real forward and in action. Malty grain notes, like porridge with vanilla and lemon peel.

Finish : Quite lengthy, earthy smoke, camphor, honey candy, caramel, citrus zest and that latex feeling still.

This was pretty good, I don't think it's keeping much with the HP house style, (not that I'm an expert on it) which usually includes a varying proportion of Sherry casks. True HP fans will be disappointed in that aspect.

Find where to buy Highland Park whisky