Highland Park Loki 15 Year Old Valhalla Collection
Who tricked whom? The Trickster!
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RReview by @Rigmorole
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall84
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- Brand: Highland Park
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Island
- ABV: 47.8%
Nose: Musty curtains, ocean brine, lemon, vinegar, caramel, dried fruit, lemon rind.
Palate: Stale week old bread, cardamom, all spice, bitter alcohol, corn syrup, viscous mouth feel.
Finish: Baker's chocolate (bitter), all spice, caramel, rancid butter, licorice, toasted barley.
If these tasting notes sound good to you, then you are a less picky drinker than I am.
Personally, I like the standard 15 Year Old Highland Park more than Loki. Yes, Loki is unusual, especially given HP's fairly consistent flavor profiles, but not necessarily all in a good way--ESPECICALLY FOR $255 American dollars.
I wonder who the trickster is here: Loki or Edrington? I wager the latter. HP's 18 year has slipped a great deal in quality over the past three years. And the Loki is not up to muster, IMO.
Yes, I would have written a kinder review if the price of Loki was around $125, where it should have been, even with the fancy wood carrying case. $255 for this whisky is a testament to the gimmickry in advertising can cause folks to pull out their wallets without really paying much attention to the finished product they are buying.
I don't feel my review is unfair given the fact that I paid the money for the scotch I am drinking and regretting having purchased. These words are the honest opinion of a man who paid the price. If you would like to believe professional critics (who sometimes get kickbacks of various sorts) over my views, then by all means go buy yourself a bottle in HPs new line of well packaged tricks. Knock yourself out.
The next one is Freya. Not sure how old it is. Thor, the first one, was sixteen years old, if I'm not mistaken. Loki was 15. I'm sure HP will keep pumping out 15 year old scotch for a pretty penny so long as people are willing to pay it. Maybe in a few years HP will release a 13 year old "Baldur" for $325. If you miss out on Loki and Freya, you always have another Norse god to look forward to.
As an Icelandic-American, Snorri Sturluson is in my family tree. I thoroughly enjoy reading about the Norse gods and I have written a novel in which they make guest appearances. Alas, it is not published. Two of my novels are published, however. I'm chalking up this latest whisky purchase to sentimentality. Then again, as a man who loves the Poetic Edda, I have more of an excuse than most people who bough Loki for over twice what it is worth.
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I probably would have smoothed out this review (taken out some slightly harsh sections) if I could edit it. I was a little peeved when I wrote it. Feeling better now, although I'm still not crazy for the Loki. It certainly has more character (nose, mouth, finish) than the regular HP 15, although I am a fan of the regular 15 and that is perhaps why I was put off by the Loki. I expected it to be much much better and it simply was not at all. Ashamed as I am to admit it, I really do love the bottle and carrying case design. It's quite beautiful. Marketing works. And, yes, if I hadn't opened it, this one will certainly appreciate with time as a collector's item. This said, over the long haul, the bottles that appreciate the most are usually the best tasting scotches. I am thinking of the Ardbeg Provence and the Longrow 18 with 70's stock as I write these words . . . never tasted them and probably never will, but, alas, I have read about them.