Highland Park 2010 New Make Spirit Drink

(Highland Park cluster homepage)

Though it's a pleasure to begin one of these clusters with some new make, I don't know the story behind this release. It's a mystery to me why Highland Park sold it, and it's a mystery to me why they stopped selling it. But it was a real thing! I was so excited to find out it existed that I bought up 40% of a split of one of the skinny 350mL bottles.

As I'd mentioned in the series opener, the distillery does about 30% of its own malting on site. As of last year that in-house malt was significantly peated (30-40ppm). Were the 2010 specs the same? Is this new make from that peaty malt, or from the unpeated sourced malt, or a mix of the two? I may or may not find out right now...

pic source

Distillery: Highland Park

Ownership: The Edrington Group

Region: Kirkwall, Orkney

Distillation date: February 2010

Age: New

Maturation: in the bottle

Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfilltered? Probably not
Colorant added? Highly doubtful
(from a bottle split)

The nose begins with anise and a woodsy peat smoke. The smoke becomes mossier and chalkier with time. Hints of dark chocolate and rosewater appear around the edges.

It's a mouthful of cigarette smoke, slivovitz and bitter chocolate. There's a little bit of complexity to it, with a grassy/hay side, bitter citrus peel and lemon candy.

It has a real finish with smoke and earth up front, dried herbs and bitter cocoa in the back.

This was much smokier than I'd expected even considering the current onsite malting specs. I dare say it may even be too peaty, with the smoke (possibly) hiding some fruitier elements. Had this been a blind tasting, I would have guessed this came from Islay. Because of its powerful style, the new make is well served by its 50%abv bottling strength. 70%abv would have been punishing.

Apparently the distillery itself currently sells a newer 350mL 50%abv new make. If you've had it, let us know in the comments what you thought of it. In the meantime, I'm going to keep the rest of my portion on hand for future tastings.

Rating - 82

The Highland Park Cluster

HISTORY

Highland Park distillery was (probably) founded in 1798 by David Robertson, but didn't go legal until obtaining its license 28 years later. James Grant, formerly of Glenlivet fame, modernized it by expanding the facilities and adding stills in the late 19th century. Highland Distillers purchased the distillery outright in 1937, and began marketing Highland Park single malt in the 1970s. Thanks to The Whisky Loch and solid warehouse management, HP debuted their 18yo and 25yo in 1997. The current owners, The Edrington Group, bought the distillery two years later. The brand then went Full Viking in 2017.

Though Orkney is culturally distinct from the rest of Scotland, and was under Norse rule longer than it's been part of Scotland, I'll let Highland Park's marketing squad sell its Viking story. And I've already disgorged a rant about their chaotic branding, so I won't waste any further space acknowledging the brand's unintentional comedy. 

A FEW DETAILS

Highland Park does ~30% of their own malt onsite, peating the barley to 30-40ppm using Orkney decayed vegetation, which results in a different peated-style than Islay malts. The other ~70% of the malt arrives unpeated from Simpson's. Combining these two malt types, as well as different fermentation times (from 50 to 80 hours), can result in different styles even before the spirit starts maturing. 

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY FEELINGS?

I like Highland Park single malt.

THE CLUSTER SHAPE

28 Highland Parks comin' up, distilled from the 1970s to the 2010s. There are a few contemporary official bottlings, but no Norse stuff. Sorry not sorry. There will be at least one week of the now-ubiquitous "Orkney" indie single malts.

The Port Charlotte cluster stretched out over 76 days, so you'll be relieved to know that this one will be over only 74 days from now. Unlike Port Charlotte, Highland Park tends to not be bottled at murderous strengths and tends not to be a palate killer, so I won't space out the reviews in the same fashion. Instead it'll be 2.5 months of nonstop HP, aside from two very special weeks near the end.

I'm looking forward to exploring so many of HP's permutations, but I'm even more excited about drinking some good whisky.

THE HIGHLAND PARKS

1. Highland Park 2010 New Make Spirit Drink - "I dare say it may even be too peaty, with the smoke (possibly) hiding some fruitier elements."

2. Highland Park 18 year old, bottled 2010 - "It's a work of art."

3. Highland Park 18 year old, bottled 2011 - "Gone are most of the 2010's fruits, replaced by some very good edgy tart and bitter qualities."

4. Highland Park 18 year old, bottled 2013 - "...very well made and a pleasure to drink (too quickly)......but not that much better than that era's 12yo."

5. Highland Park 18 year old, bottled 2014 - "...the only one of the four where the oak became aggressive."

6. Highland Park 12 year old 2004, single cask 6737 for BevMo - "Highland Park puts out great whisky consistently, like few brands do. This is not great whisky."

7. Highland Park 12 year old 2006, single cask 5036 for K&L - "...a cleaner and more reliable cask than [#6737]."

8. Highland Park 16 year old 2003, single cask 1885 for The Whisky Exchange - "Big and rich, it fills the senses like few sherry cask whiskies have lately."

9. Highland Park 10 year old 2001 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 2998 - "Rustic and lean with just a touch of oak, it shows HP youth in all the right ways."

10. Highland Park 17 year old 2001 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 3004 - "...heftier than the 10yo from the start......bitterer and smokier overall..."

11. Highland Park 18 year old 1999 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 4256 - "...this is precise, graceful whisky selected and bottled at the perfect strength."

12. Highland Park 13 year old 2004 SMWS 4.249 - "...Late-Imperialist Whisky; it tries to conquer through nothing but lumbering violence."

13. Orkney Islands 15 year old 2002 Berry Brothers & Rudd, cask 3 for The Whisky Barrel - "...fresh fruit, moderate oak, and a reasonable strength......one of the most drinkable members of the cluster so far."

14. An Orkney Distillery 15 year old 2002 Archives - "This one hit the spot......mix[ing] the seasons with ease."

15. Highland Park The Dark 17 year old - "...strange and messy enough to be of interest. A bit extreme and never boring......it's a silly thing."

Assessing the cluster at the halfway point

16. Highland Park 20 year old 1999 Duncan Taylor, cask 501101 - "Something seemed to have gone awkward with the (likely very) refill cask and its very pale whisky."

17. Stones of Stenness 18 year old 1999 Single Cask Nation, cask 453 - "...(I can't believe I'm saying this), I don't think a secondary maturation would have hurt it."

18. Undisclosed Orkney Distillery 20 year old 1999 Infrequent Flyers, cask A324-4 - "...felt like Talisker's cousin with its coastal peppery style."

19. Undisclosed Orkney Distillery 21 year old 1999 Infrequent Flyers, cask 5743 - "It was savory and gamey rather than grape jammy, if you'll allow the words."

20. Highland Park 21 year old 1992 Gordon & MacPhail - "This is fabulous......It's exactly what I hope for when trying a non-sherried Highland Park."

21. Highland Park 22 year old 1990 AD Rattray, cask 577 - "It reads like......something that could have gone into a batch of Famous Grouse."

22. Highland Park 28 year old 1988 Cadenhead Small Batch - "...this is great. The cask is loud, but it's a honey. And the smoke is impressively fierce at this age."

23. Highland Park 18 year old 1978 Hart Brothers - "It's all very friendly and the whisky disappears quickly. But...[one] wonders what this whisky would have been like at 46%abv or higher."

24. Highland Park 33 year old 1978 - "This is 90% cask, but I like it, especially the nose, which treads close to old sherry cask Yamazaki."

25. Highland Park 25 year old, 48.1%abv edition - "A nexus of dirty stones, ocean air and mild smoke..."

26. Highland Park 16 year old 1984 Old Malt Cask - "The palate is dramatically flawed with its soap, cardboard and heavy oaky bitterness."

27. Highland Park 27 year old 1984 The Whisky Agency - " If 25+ year old bourbon cask HPs were in my price range, this style is exactly what I'd seek out."

28. Highland Park 26 year old 1977 Hart Brothers - "It's a good whisky, not tremendous, but a well made drink I'd be happy to pour at any time."

Concluding the cluster

A meditation on the Port Charlotte Cluster and other things

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

If you think this series has gone on for an eternity, I can relate. But time plus booze equals......a quicker march towards the infinite? I don't know, what was my point? Ah yes, these clusters disabuse me of all my previously held opinions, notions and theories about the distillery or brand of focus. Knowledge over romanticism. Three reviews, or even six reviews, just won't do.

Each cluster starts with excitement, like a new love, then it drifts towards fascination before slumping to boredom, then arising to objective distance, and finally curling up in exhaustion.

Twenty-four reviews later, I no longer see Port Charlotte as a "brutalist malt," "strange, jagged and stark, conjuring images of concrete and steel." When young it's a savory, salty, coastal thing, but to find that core, one has to dive beneath the heat of its often outrageous bottling strengths. As it ages, it releases its grip on those characteristics, sometimes gradually, sometimes abruptly, depending on the maturation vessels. I'm sure this is the case with all whiskies, but I see Port Charlotte's development more clearly now.

By the time it reaches its mid-teens, Port Charlotte takes its spot among the great malts of Southern Islay. It trades most of its youthful eccentricity for balance and stability, resulting in a more familiar single malt.

But what is better? The excitement or the reliability? That is the crux of the biscuit, my friends. It depends on your preferences, as well as the moment. Is it mid-January in the Midwest, or late summer in Southern California? Are you watching the rain in Port Ellen, or wiping the sweat from your lower eyelids at a Ginza cafe in June?

For me, Port Charlotte (and Laphroaig and Lagavulin and Ledaig and Ballechin and Ardbeg and Kilchoman and Hampden and Worthy Park) can be a rough drink in the summer. My palate has no disputes for the other three-quarters of the year, though.

Were price no barrier, I'd continue to explore bourbon-cask and sherry-cask Port Charlotte as it gets older, to see if it trends towards any other familiar single malt styles. For now, I'm perfectly happy to enjoy the official 10-year-old and Islay Barley editions. And I'm even happier that I still enjoy Port Charlotte at the end of this cluster.

Now on to the next one...

Port Charlotte 16 year old 2001 Archives, cask 278 (my bottle)

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

For the 24th and final Port Charlotte cluster review, I opened up one of my bottles. I'm pretty sure it was the oldest existing Port Charlotte for all of about 30 minutes, so I got those Big Whisky Eyes, and suddenly I was nearly breaching my spending limit, for a 16 year old whisky mind you. My logic was: Port Charlotte (Good) + Archives (Good) = Doubleplusgood. And shut up and take my money.

At the time, I'd never tried a Port Charlotte that was 10 years old, let alone 16! Thanks to this cluster, my experience has changed. In fact, I tried this 16 alongside the other two 16s from this review series. And now it receives its own post.

NOTES

Diluted to 46%abv (going backwards this time)

At first it's an outdoor fish market (in the morning) and salty/savory smoke in the nose. Baked peaches and apricots fill in the midground, with hints of anise and sourdough in the background. An intense ocean water note takes over at the 30 minute mark.

The palate is loaded with the big PC peat, as well as lots of salt and wasabi. There's no vanilla, and very little sweetness. With time in the glass, it develops a mix of charcoal smoke and lime juice.

It finishes salty and tingly, and holds onto that charcoal smoke + lime combo.

Full strength - 59.7%abv

Horse stables and peaches on the nose. Seaweed and kiln. Lemon, honey and a hint of guava juice too. Yes.

The palate is fierce AF. No subtlety, just ALL CAPS. Herbal bitterness and salt wrapped in black smoke. A wallop of Hampden-style funk. Baskets of limes and oranges.

The citrus goes tart in the finish, keeping up with all the heavy smoke, salt and funk.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Thank goodness this is good. I've had a number of decent-enough bottles recently, and I'm getting tired of trading my money for "decent-enough."

One great aspect of this Port Charlotte is that it's two different whiskies at 46%abv and 59.7%abv, and both versions are throughly enjoyable. This also hints at the possibility of more variation at other dilution levels. Quality + flexibility! While the nose is grand at both levels, I prefer the crazy violence at full power. This may be another whisky that will drink even better when the heat index is below 100ºF, so I'm going to keep the bottle sealed up for a few months before returning to it.

Well, that's nearly a wrap, folks. I will pull together my thoughts from this 2.5 month quest and post something like a conclusion this weekend.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - €170 when it was released; a lot more €€€ on the current secondary market

Rating - 90

anCnoc 24 year old

Knockdhu distillery (home of anCnoc single malt) restarted production in 1989, after a six year closure. Like Arran and their 25yo, Knockdhu rightly stashed away some of those early casks for a future well-aged release. Those casks resulted in the early batches of this 24 year old whisky.

I try to check in on anCnoc single malt every couple of years. The 18yo and Cutter are very good, and the 12yo (43%abv edition) is pretty solid. Their marketing budget seems to be on the lean side and bottle flippers tend to stay away.

With a little bit of research, one can find the 24 year old selling for only 30% more than the 18 year old (in Europe), a price point that harkens back to cheaper days of yore. I had been considering blind-buying the whisky just when Dr. Springbank brought me a sample from his bottle.

Distillery: Knockdhu
Owner: Inver House Distillers (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)
Region: border of Speyside and Western Highlands

Age: minimum 24 years
Maturation: sherry casks and bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chill-filtration? No
Caramel colored? No
(Thank you to Dr. Springbank for the sample!)

NOTES

The nose is heavy on the sherry casks, and I do mean HEAVY. There's some lumber in there with the prunes, dried cherries, chocolate and anise. It develops smaller notes of carob bark, walnuts and pecans with time, gradually getting rootier and earthier. It shifts styles once reduced to 40%abv turning into nuts, toffee and baking spices. That's it, but it's spot on.

The palate has plenty of sherry cask influence, but there's less outright oak than on the nose. More oak spice than pulp. Honey, lime, minerals and a slight pepperiness make up the rest. It gets slightly nuttier and floral at 40%abv.

The finish feels limited to heat, roots and dried berries. Once diluted to 40%abv, it matches the 40%abv palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

In the Taste Off between the anCnoc 24 and Arran 25, the Arran showed better balance and finish, though the anCnoc may have taken dilution better. I'm on the fence about the anCnoc's palate. Part of me enjoyed its restraint, while another part of me wanted something more from it, like more fruit or nuts or earth. Perhaps oxidation would bring something else out. Though it seems like I'm giving it a slagging, the 24yo is a good whisky and fairly priced. It just doesn't rise to must-have levels for me.

Availability - Available at many whisky specialists across Europe, and a few in the US
Pricing - €120-€170 in Europe, $220-$260 in the US

Rating - 84 (when diluted)

Arran 25 year old, 2020 release

OMG, there's an Arran 25 year old! Etc., etc., etc. Apparently I have turned into that person already. I frequently get the sort of "Wow, he's graduating high school? I remember his bris," thoughts all the time. Or maybe I remember brit milahs really well. I mean I've only been to four, so maybe I'm remembering snippings I didn't even attend. And why are you insisting that I talk about circumcised penises?

For those of us who haven't been paying attention, Isle of Arran Distillery was renamed Lochranza Distillery right around the time the owners opened a second Arran Distillery, Lagg, in 2019. To mark the new distillery's arrival and older distillery's name change, the Arran Single Malt range received a reboot. All new packaging (that still says Arran Arran Arran Arran Arran) appeared, the 14yo (my favorite official bottling) was dismissed, and a whole bunch of new NAS releases (what is this, 2015?) materialized.

Lochranza (neé Arran) began distillation in August 1995, and to my geeky pleasure the producers saved some of those early casks for today's 25 year old, which was released in October 2020 with the classic Arran presentation of 46%/NC/NCF. This almost makes up for my gripes above.

Distillery: Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran)

Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers

Age: 25 years (1995-2020)

Maturation: 65% bourbon casks / 35% sherry casks

Outturn: 3,000 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfiltered? No

Caramel Colorant? No

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose begins with a mix of almonds, walnuts, honey, clay and plums, in that order. With time, it gains hints of barley(!) and guava. It has the musty heft of something even older about it, though that's statistically impossible for this distillery. Reduced to 40%abv, it keeps that same combo of almonds, walnuts, honey, clay and plums, while adding in some golden raisins.

The palate has a dry, nutty sherry style. No prunes or black raisins. Almonds, walnuts and Brazil nuts take the lead, with smaller notes of honey, oranges and salt in the background. It picks up a good fresh blueberry note with time, and keeps an oily mouthfeel throughout. Once diluted to 40%abv, it keeps a similar style, though it gets toastier. Toasty nuts, toasty oak spices and toasty barley. A few fresh cherries and dried apricots show up in the background. It's neither sweet nor bitter.

It finishes with almonds, walnuts and blueberries, with a little bit of tartness around the edges. At 40%abv, the finish matches the palate's toastiness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The retired 14yo was my favorite Arran expression because it balanced the oak and spirit characteristics nearly perfectly. The official 16, 17, and 18, as well the 20+ year old single casks all read too oaky for my palate. What surprised me about the 25 year old is that, though it feels like a long-aged whisky, the oak never overwhelms the recipe, as if these casks had a gentler spot in the Arran warehouse. Perhaps the bourbon casks were refills or hoggies, and/or the sherry casks had a subtler toast to them. As a result, it succeeds where the others could not. I don't know if it overtakes the 14, but I'd be happy to call this my favorite fancy Arran.

Availability - Still available at a few dozen European retailers
Pricing - €300-€500 (quite a range there)

Rating - 88

Port Charlotte 16 year old 2003 for Feis Ile 2020

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

Islay's Feis Ile went virtual last year, but the festival's limited edition bottlings were just as prevalent in the primary and secondary markets as ever. For the drinky fest, Bruichladdich offered up 3000 bottles of a Port Charlotte constructed from three so-called "parcels":

First parcel: refill hogsheads recasked into 1st-fill bourbon barrels in 2012

Second parcel: 1st-fill bourbon barrels recasked into former Sauternes casks in 2013

Third parcel: a mix of sherry, bourbon and virgin oak casks (no further specifics)

This sounds like a post-Thanksgiving garbage plate, but the old Longrow CV demonstrated that a mishmash could actually taste good. So, what the hell, how about another 16 year old Port Charlotte?

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Brand: Port Charlotte
Ownership: Rémy Cointreau
Age: 16 years (2003 - 2020)
Maturation: see notes above
Outturn: 3,000 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 55.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Bright notes fill the nose, but they're not fruity or herbal or anything spirity, but they're bright woody notes, like coconut cream and ginger. There are some new tires in the background, with mint and mossy peat (peaty moss) in the middle. Lots of white chocolate. After 20 minutes, the nose develops notes of menthol and white peaches. Once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv, it reads much closer to a southern Islay style of heavy peat smoke, but with vanilla, white chocolate and coconut cream intruding from every direction.

The palate is sweet and peppery, with a big dose of woody bitterness. Lots of oak spice as well. The smoke quickly turns bitter, overwhelming smaller notes of umami, lemons and dessert wine. The bitter smoke remains after the whisky is diluted to 46%abv. The lemons, now joined by limes, grow tarter and louder. Gradually some sweeter oranges appear.

The finish is full of vanilla pudding and bitter smoke. There's a touch of dessert wine again, but it's more of a late harvest sauvignon than a Sauternes. I hate myself. At 46%abv, the whisky finishes with bitter smoke, green bell peppers and balsamic vinegar.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This the oakiest Port Charlotte I've ever had. The casks are so loud that this comes across more like one of Ardbeg's harebrained limited editions than an actual Port Charlotte. I'm baffled by the whiskybase scores because the whisky's zany nose is the only thing keeping my score from heading to offending levels. Perhaps I didn't "get" this whisky, but I'm glad I didn't get this whisky.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - I dare not quote the secondary price because it could double by next year at this rate

Rating - 83