Highland Park Valkyrie

Probably worried for nothing. Sugars in the whisky does not mean sugars added to the whisky. There are always sugars from the oak wood contained in whisky. There could also be present small amounts of sugar from incomplete fermentation of the sugars from the grain.

But, yes, if sugars are being added to the whisky that would be a legal no-no, and scandalous.

To my knowledge new make spirit of hard liquor has always zero sugars due distillation process, so every ounce of sugar in the final product is added or other ways gained. I might be wrong about this as I am by no means an expert.

I hope I'm worried over nothing and it was just very active sherry cask or something, but even Aberlour A'Bunadh shows zero sugars...

Thanks for your response

New make spirit should have zero sugars remaining, but I doubt that that is always true.

It would be big news if Highland Park were found to be clandestinely adding sugars to the whisky.

@Victor It would be a shame. I really like Highland Park, Viking marketing schtick and all.

@OdysseusUnbound It is precisely this and with their new lineup that completely turns me off from them, tbh. Also, I had a taste of the whisky that is replacing the Dark Origins and it is a huge step down, imo. It was also very sweet. Is this it? I can't recall the name of it.

It's a shame because their 12 was one of my gateways to the world of single malts.

I'm not either very fond of these new viking sagas, but the 18 year old is still a top notch.

@KRB80 Replacing the Dark Origins? I really like that one. I'll have to try to get a bottle or four if they're still available.

@OdysseusUnbound Yeah, I went to a Macallan/Highland Park tasting in early June and learned of it. I just looked it up and, yep, it was this Valkyrie bottling. Very disappointing, imho. Too sweet and very two-note; desolate in the complexity department. YMMV

Dark Origins is decent but, for around the same price, if I want a sherried peat experience, I'd go for the Uigeadail 10 times out of 10.

The older I get, the more leary I am with all these trendy, highly marketed, overpriced NAS popping up left, right, and from every other direction. I'll just stick with the reputable few tried and true NAS that already exist as well as the transparency of age-stated whiskies. There are enough of them to keep me happy for my lifetime anyway.

@KRB80 Here in Ontario, Oogie is almost 2X the price of Dark Origins. But I agree with where you're coming from regarding the shenanigans around NAS whisky. I've gone on about it at length before.

@KRB80 , you said, "It is precisely this and with their new lineup that completely turns me off from them."

What do you mean by "this"?

I agree with @Victor that this sugar thing on the ALKO site probably doesn't mean anything, and that it's 100% UNLIKELY that Highland Park is adding any sugar to this or any other whisky.

For your consideration

And here

Only 5 available. They are going fast. Better raise the price.

Is highest price on a whisky a reason for bragging rights?

@Victor I've never bought Uigeadail because that's past my self-imposed price limit. If I lived in a different jurisdiction things might be different, but alas. Just to clarify, I wasn't bragging so much as clarifying our situation here in Ontario, for those who may be unfamiliar with it.

@OdysseusUnbound Damn that's pricey Uigeadail and I thought we had it bad (136 CAD).

@OdysseusUnbound I have an unopened bottle of Uigeadail that I got for

Not sure why my message keeps getting cut off...

@OdysseusUnbound I have an unopened bottle of Uigeadail that I got for less than 85 dollars in Calgary.

If you came to Toronto it would be a great excuse to open it.

@OdysseusUnbound, oh, I knew that you were not bragging. LCBO pricing, especially for Ardbeg products, has been well known and much discussed on Connosr for about 6 years now. Only Australia seems to give Ontario and most of the rest of non-Alberta Canada a run for the money on highest whisky prices. Sweden might finish the "race" third.

@HHJones I doubt HP would add sugar to whisky. If they did then all hell would break loose. But with all their recent NAS Viking trends maybe adding sugar is the next step down....

@OdysseusUnbound Ouch, that's rough. :(

@MadSingleMalt By "this," I was referring to their gimmicky marketing. Edrington has been really upping the ante lately.

@KRB80 On the one hand it's rough, on the other hand, it helps our livers...

@Nozinan LOL! Indeed. Big Brother is only protecting you from yourself. ;)

@Nozinan Yeah, I've got one too from a couple of years ago. $76 in Calgary.

@Victor British Columbia is right up there, maybe only second to Ontario. Uigeadail $155 in BC.

Sweden might come in third but we do have a great selection..