Highland Park Cask Strength Release No. 2

I was at the liquor store today because they just got in a High West Double Rye Barrel Select Rum Cask Finish. It's been a while since I've had Double Rye. In fact, the last time I had it, High West hadn't started using its own distillate in the mix and from what I understand, the regular product has gone downhill. Still, I can't resist the allure of the barrel select finished in rum. Generally speaking, I find rum finishes compliment certain types of whisky and elevate many of those I've had. While I was there I passed a display for Buffalo Trace, limit 1 per customer, because Buffalo Trace comes and goes in availability. Impulse buy: I picked up a bottle of Buffalo Trace because I've never had it. All these years drinking whisky and I've never tried one of the standard sub-$30 bottle of bourbon, mostly because by the time I started taking whisky seriously enough for Buffalo Trace to come on my radar, what it was didn't hold much interest for me. From what I understand, it's an affordable, tasty daily sipper of maybe a little better quality than other whiskies in the sub-$30 90 proof category, perhaps better than Makers Mark but not quite Eagle Rare? Anyway, when I got home, I looked up some Buffalo Trace reviews online because reading reviews gets me excited to taste and compare my thoughts with others. Not that I opened the bottle, because frankly, it was still morning, and I have other bottles opened that I have to finish. On the site Breaking Bourbon, the reviewer gave it a positive review, 3 barrels out of 5, which is "Above Average." Then I made that mistake of scrolling down to the comment thread. One comment said, "I can't believe they gave this 3 barrels and they also gave Old Forester 100 3 barrels, there's something wrong with this system." And I thought, well, I can't weigh in because I've had neither, but I do a lot of research on whisky before buying, and I'm pretty sure that Buffalo Trace and Old Forester 100 are, in fact, in a similar category. Then, one of those whisky aesthetes stated that he tasted Buffalo Trace, and he poured it down the drain it was so bad. Now I can't condone pouring whisky down the drain. Or, I can if you've poured yourself a glass and hate it and pour the rest of the glass down the drain because no one else is drinking your backwash. I can't condone it if you pour the bottle down the drain (gift it to someone, mofo!). But still, the hate! oh, the hate poured down upon this guy's comment. I was sorry to see it, and also...well, kind of amused. "Buffalo Trace is a great whisky!" "Buffalo Trace is amazing!" Is it really? I wondered. I mean, I don't expect greatness or amazingness from a $27 bourbon. I just hope it'll be above average like the reviewer rated it. I mention this because the whole experience reminded me of Louis CK's mid-to-late aughts bit in his special Hilarious about how these days, we always go top-shelf with our words. "That's hilarious!" "Really, was it, was it so funny you almost died laughing?" His argument, if we use top-shelf words for everything, they stop meaning anything. So even though I now have a bottle of Buffalo Trace that I haven't tasted, I'm going out on a limb here to say, I'm going to be staggered if it's amazing or great or fantastic. If it is, that'll be like hitting the lottery. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of bourbons in my collection that are better than Buffalo Trace, it just felt like something I had to try. So why am I giving all this room to a preamble about whether or not Buffalo Trace is amazing? Because this Highland Park Cask Strength Release 2 is not quite amazing, but it's really freaking close. I let this sit on the shelf for a long time before deciding to pop it open. Don't know why. Just other bottles I was more interested in. But a few weeks ago I decided it was time for the HP CS Release 2, and I was blown away. I mean, this is one of the most robust and flavorful scotches I've ever tasted. Although this doesn't bear an age statement, this is like the Viking Honor 12 Year on steroids. The nose is rich in heather and toffee and molasses with an orange undercurrent and it's just delightful. It's a Yankee Candle nose, if you know what I'm saying. I'd say, a late-summer Yankee Candle scent, maybe as August turns into September and you still get warm days but cool evenings. This is the whisky you want to nose on your back deck as the sun sets and you're sparking the fire pit, having put the kids to bed, sitting out with your significant other. The palate has toffee and milk chocolate and caramel with that same rich citrus edge. And it's just powerful. I mean, I feel like stringing together a number of verys, in that this is very very rich and lovely. It's like a desert, like a cake, a dense cake of all those flavors. And the finish is might and long and glorious. Honestly, this is the first Highland Park I've had where I feel like their whole Viking marketing ploy is appropriate because this is the first Highland Park I've had where I feel like a Viking might have actually enjoyed it, having vanquished his enemies, thrown down the glass to hear it smash, and called for another, all while sitting on his back deck, stoking the fire pit, having put his kids to bed, and hanging out with his significant other. Oh, and he'd be very careful not to let it leak out the sides of his mouth and let it dribble down his beard. This stuff is too valuable. Did I say this was just short of amazing? Maybe it is amazing (I tend to always want more peat, but the peat might not do this any good). It's hovering in that top shelf category for me where, even at $90 a bottle, I'd consider going out and picking up another one.

Release No. 2. 63.9%. N: Honey, caramel, flowers, dried vegetation, heather, earth, petrichor, vanilla, cherry, fruity coffee (high end), unlit cigarettes (also high end), tobacco smoke, pears and other orchard fruit, dash of mint and menthol, some fresh herbs. Endless. P: Sweet honey, caramel, vanilla, tropical flowers, dried heather, earth, dried fruit, cooked pineapple, mint, citrus, dark chocolate, sea salt and brine, seafood cooked with sweet fruit, some mineral notes, copper. Again, endless. F: Honey, dried heather, dried flowers, dried firewood, oak, menthol, petrichor, smoke from a seaside fire, earth, pine, tobacco smoke, dark chocolate, chocolate mints, long lingering dried leaves, more seaside bonfire smoke, cigar smoke, Milk Duds candy, maybe some almond... I'm digging now, but I think there are still further treasures to find. This is an incredible Scotch. For my palate, it is one of the greatest, most complicated, most interesting things I've ever tasted, of any sort, alcohol or otherwise. I'm qualifying that ("for my palate") because 1) it doesn't make a ton of sense as an NAS CS blend and 2) people I respect have written less glowing reviews of this particular release. But I am three quarters through this bottle and have treasured every sip like almost no other whiskies I've tasted. My best explanation for this starts here: I firmly believe that taste is highly subjective, and a big part of what forms that subjectivity is genetics (which, I suppose, is ironically not really subjective, but it's a case of objective genetics creating subjective experiences - leave me alone). I think where your family is from, over generations, absolutely shapes the flavors you experience most intensely, most intimately, and that you most gravitate toward. I've read lightly on the subject and it seems science doesn't disagree with me (take that with a grain of salt - I do), but anecdotally, I point to my girlfriend: she is Armenian (born there, emigrated later) and, obviously, gravitates toward food from that part of the world - boiled cow hoof soup is a much loved traditional once/twice a year meal.* She also dislikes, or even outright hates, things like pasta and rice that are not nearly the staples in that part of the world that they are elsewhere. I could go much deeper on this subject, but, take my word for it, we rarely completely agree on what food is "good." Back to the whisky: my family is 99.8% (very high proof!) Scandinavian, coming from two families with deep ties to Norway and Finland. It would not surprise me to find out that my ancestors raped and pillaged Orkney at some point. You can basically blame me for all the Viking shit HP has thrown out over the last decade or so. (And obviously, I love it, despite my best intent.) So, you know, my genetics probably predispose me to love this whisky. That's my best guess as to why I think this is practically the best thing I've ever tasted while others think it's, you know, okay, or even pretty good. All that said, I'm not tempering my rating here. Despite acknowledging that others will certainly disagree, I love this whisky and will be very sad when it's all gone. (And yes, I plan to stash at least a few bottles of this while I still can.) And I hope you all find the bottle that does the same for you, no matter what I or anyone else thinks of it. *Khash is supposedly a hangover cure, but has to be boiled for hours in advance, and then is served usually at 7am with copious shots of vodka. So basically you have to plan to be hungover, have someone else cook it for you, and then plan to do nothing else the rest of the day. And it's very much an acquired taste. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired (it shouldn't be), please post a comment and I will gladly provide a new one.)

Nose: Dark / burnt sugar, burnt butterscotch, sherry notes, dried and dark orange peel, and maybe some peat that seems toasted and sherried. Burnt butterscotch note is strong and incredible. Flavor: Smokey. Sweet honey / caramel toffee and burnt butterscotch. Incredibly spicy and peppery (but without burning / drying too much). Decent amount of peat and plenty of sherry notes. Good oak. Body: So thick! Caramel / butterscotch / toffee that completely coats. Finish: Smoke, spice, pepper, oak, with a touch of peat, plenty of sherry notes, and a lingering caramel sweetness.

Nose: Kids sweets, pear drops, wet wood smoke, damp peat Palate: Sweet and peaty, salt/saline, treacle, honey, liquorice, toasted oak, black pepper, aniseed Finish: Long finish. Light smoke, nutty, chocolate, chilli, toasted oak. Aftertaste brings out salt, oak, burnt caramel, millionaire shortbread and leather. This is a fantastic dram. Creamy, unctuous, salty, smoky, woody... I could go on! This is complex, layered and, above all, tasty as hell! For the price point this is a bargain, too - just watch out for its 63.9% ABV - ouch! An absolute cracker of a dram.

This one took me awhile to warm up to. Bottle is 3/4 full, open 6 months +/-. Nose: French vanilla, slightly burnt buttered popcorn, straw, dried apricots, graham cracker and light baking spices. Palate: Rich, viscous, coating, vanilla, baking spices, smoke notes and heat, the longer held, the hotter it gets. Finish: Sryupy, sticky, numbing. Maybe this could be a good substitute for Novocain if you are going to have dental work done. To quote Pink Floyd, “ I have become comfortably numb. “ In the end, I fell in love with this bottle and wanted more. Bumped 1/4 point.

Nose: Salty, buttered bread, almost croissant like. Some spicy wood notes. Palate: Slightly oily, salty, intensely hot and spicy burn that's akin to a chilli heat. Finish: Lovely finish of charcoal smoke that cuts through some of the heat but both linger for some time. Notes: It's like someone put a smouldering coal from a BBQ into your mouth. Water does nothing to temper it.