Highland Park Einar

Stop number 43 on the SDT is Highland Park. Arguably, along with its sister distillery, Macallan, one of the most highly regarded brands in single malt scotch. Located in the far north on the Orkney Islands, HP is part of the Islands region of Scotland. Einar (pronounced I-n-ar), is a travel retail exclusive and the second of eight in their Warrior Series released to celebrate their Viking heritage. Bottled at 40% ABV and like all HPs it is natural color. This one is an amber gold. I believe it is non chill filtered but not 100% on that. The nose is sticky sweet sherry. Brown sugar raisins and dates. A little citrus, like chocolate oranges and dried pineapple. Barley sugar and a it's a little malty. Vanilla buttercream and golden pancake syrup. Just a hint of smoke and a little mint in the background. A big French toast note with maple syrup. Some overripe bananas trailing off. Sherry sweetness up front on the palate. Some wood smoke, but it's not peaty. A little citrus, but not a zippy citrus like lemons. More of a darker citrus if that makes sense. Figs and raisins and some weak oak. French toast with syrup. Banana muffins with crushed walnuts on top and warm vanilla. Light bodied mouthfeel. Thin but a little creamy. Medium length finish. Sherry, light smoke, syrup and banana. The use of American oak here is apparent from the softer notes and lack of any significant spice level, but there is some European oak in play here too I feel. Sherry is the driving force here and the peat level is very low. I was surprised at the distinct notes of French toast and syrup. Most scotches this sweet would be called a dessert dram, but this feels more like a breakfast dram, if that was a thing. For HP, this is rather weak. It's good, just sadly has no oomph to it. Very easy to drink though. One of those all night type drams. I believe I picked this 1L bottle up from duty free for around $45, which makes it a great value for money. Would I buy it again? No, but I do not regret this purchase. 3.5 Cheers

I’m not sure where to begin with this malt. I’ve been cruising through some higher end bottles from HP lately: Fire, Ice and the 25yo. This is an official sample group pour from my friend Paul in Detroit. It’s travel retail exclusive, so I’d never get a chance to try this one otherwise (thanks for that Paul), and it’s part of another NAS Viking warrior series that HP is pushing on the travel market. I have mixed feelings there for sure, but I’d like to give HP the benefit of the doubt. This one was a NAS offering utilizing European and American ex-sherry oak barrels. It’s the industry minimum 40% ABV and is a bright, new penny copper in the tasting glass. It makes some seriously quick and thin legs when you twirl it- evidence that there’s a significant amount of water used to blend the various casks and bring down the ABV. That’s not good, IMO. The nose is sherry and light maple syrup with a hint of weak smoke rounding it out. This is the best part of the whisky. It’s downhill from here. The palate is watery with vanilla and tea leaves that transition quickly to a light pepper spice and weak oak barrel note. The overall mouthfeel is weak, especially for Highland Park. The finish is medium length and drying. Those same sherry notes from the nose finish things off. Like I said, I’ve been enjoying some more expensive bottles from HP lately, and I’ve even been somewhat critical of the Fire Edition, but both the Fire & Ice bottles are miles above this offering. I recently had the 25 year and it is absolutely stunning (review coming soon). This one just doesn’t stack up. Sorry, Paul, but this one is a dud. 2.5-2.75 stars, with some of that rating getting a bump because it’s a rare bottle for me. Cheers, my friends

Just what is Highland Park doing? I have a theory that you can walk into a Duty Free and tell what distilleries are lost to people who truly appreciate liquor for the sole reason that they love to drink liquor. The only reason for a travel retail exclusive (TRE) is to appeal to people who like liquor for other reasons. When you release about a dozen TREs, you tell me that your casks now suck, but you would still like to earn money unscrupulously from vacation-drunken travelers. Highland Park has gone Viking mad. This isn’t even Norse mythology – the actual word they are looking for is “Einherjar,” but I guess that’s less marketable. NOSE: It’s Highland Park with water. Heather, oranges, honey, followed by some sherry notes. Like a weak 12 year old – the normal one – because I noticed they Viking’d up the new 12 year old. I bet it’s compensation for a decrease in quality. PALATE: Sherry flavors on the arrival, but a weak body. Watery, jarred fruits: dark grapes, berries. The only smoke is a faint burnt orange peel in tea flavor. Not bad, but not nearly as good as the 12. FINISH: There really is none. Certainly nothing that reminds you that you had just sipped a Highland Park. VERDICT: It’s not worth the price of the bottle. I had some while watching Netflix “Valhalla Rising.” What a fucked up movie. The movie was too strong for this fake whisky, and I switched to Laphroaig CS. Much more appropriate. Highland Park used to be one of my favorite distilleries. This saddens me. MARK: 74/100.

Highland Park base malts (12, 15, 18) have always been a favorite of mine. They have lately drifting away from the aged statement whiskies and concentrating on their NAS whiskies. I have my reservations, however. A soft and sweet nose that is malty with Brown sugar. Sherry notes of nuts and raisins with a touch of tropical fruits, toasted coconut and, way deep, banana. A hint of smoke, the Highland Park smoke, is there as well. The palate is introduced with a thin body with an immediate brown sugar and maple syrup sweetness that dissapates swiftly. That transition becomes cinnamon spicy and roasted almonds and oak. An earthiness base underlies the sweet and spicy. A sour bitterness takes hold into the finish. A slightly drying and oaky palate remains. White pepper spice with a ginger bitterness that lingers to the end. An easy dram that does not venture far from the middle. Safe and unadventurous. It has some good flavor, but lacks a punch or flair. The whisky would probably be improved if it was bottled at 43%. Highland Park, in my opinion, is losing focus and has been lacking in a cohesive direction and trying to find it's way through this age of NAS. This malt is indicative of that sentiment. Average, safe that seeks mass market appeal. [83/100][Tasted: 11/29/17]

Nose: peat smoke. Sea salt. Sweetness from something... maybe sherry? A light tobacco. As it opens more sweet Cherri starts to sneak out. Body: this is thin to medium but the palate and finish over compensate Palate: charcoal dipped in sherry but basically camp fire smoked tobacco. Finish: ever lasting, incredibly long “that’s what she said”. Further in it has a little more sherry sweetness. I feel like I should be sitting next to a camp fire watching someone cook fish. Note: an ounce from Jared. Tasted after three shots of bourbon for what that’s worth. Very smoky and long lasting. A perfect dram for February in minnesota. This is actually pretty good but setting and drinker dependent. If you like smoke but with out iodine and a dryness to the smoke this is your jam. Like drinking a charred stick from a camp fire. So smoky, but for an ounce or two in the right setting with the right people this is perfect. Not my particular jam but I appreciate this.

Not a bad whisky, but an extremely subtle one on all fronts. On the nose, the smoke is barely detected. I can decipher some sherry notes, but even though this is ex-sherry on both American and European oak, it's just too distant. I think the 40% ABV may be the issue, just a hunch. Being a travel retail only bottle makes me shake my head, because you would think they would be putting some better 4 to 5 star stuff out there, but for 65-75 dollars, I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The palate is a bit more spicier than fruity, and I water does not help it out. A short pleasant finish with more tropical notes reminiscent of a medium end Balvenie 14 or so to me. A solid 3.0. Since the finish puts a steel drum in my head, the song for this one is "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction. Thanks to Paul for giving me the chance to sample this one.