Highland Park Fire Edition

I originally opened both Highland Park Fire and Ice edition bottles at a get together with a few friends to coincide with the season 7 finale of Game of Thrones. I have been sipping on both since then and I think I'm ready to get my thoughts and impressions down, starting here with the Fire Edition. It's 15 year old whisky that spent its entire life in refilled, port wine casks. It comes in at 45.2% ABV and there were just under 4,400 bottles available for the U.S. market. In the glass, it appears very oily. Give it a spin and it creates a thick, oil slick that sticks to the walls and only slowly grows thin legs as it settles. It's not as dark as I'd expected a port wine finished whisky to be. Some reviewers claim there's a reddish hue in there but I suspect they may have sat the glass close to the bright red bottle and are picking up its reflection, lol. It was a very surprising tasting from start to finish, and not necessarily in a good way. On the nose, even after 15-20min, I still get mostly oak. There's cinnamon notes in abundance, too. It masks any sweetness I expected from the wine barrel. I also don't get any smoke. Strike One. The palate is pretty lively, especially for Highland Park. I seem to recall most of the HP juices I've tried always seem well aged, smooth with a heavier-than-most mouthfeel. Fire feels young, like a NAS whisky bottled a bit too soon. Citrus peel and spicy oak lead the way into a lightly smoked mid-sip. The mouthfeel is thinner and causes all the flavor to fade somewhat quickly. Subtle smoke finally shows up on the exhale and that saves this from being a complete letdown. Strike One-and-a-Half. The finish is medium-long with some strong, bitter chocolate notes mingling with the smoke. A balanced warmth settles across your mouth and is this whisky's saving grace. That's the Highland Park I know and love. Did you notice not much was said of the port finish? It's because it's non-existent to me. All of the magic that may have been in those barrels must've been summoned elsewhere. That makes this offering so disappointing. I absolutely adore peated, port finished whisky, so even though I may have expected the impossible, this doesn't come close to delivering. Strike Two. The ridiculous packaging and price tag are Strike Three. I can't recommend this one when you can purchase almost 3 bottles of the awesome 18 year old for the price of this one. 3 stars. Try it if you can find it in a bar for a reasonable price, but I'd avoid buying a bottle until the price drops significantly. Cheers.

@LeeEvolved was gracious enough to send me several premium samples of Highland Park, and now that the current round of the Scottish Distillery Tour has concluded I figured that this is the perfect time to review them. So this will be part one of a four part HP review. The Fire Edition was fully matured exclusively in ex port casks for 15 years, rather than a port finish that typically only lasts 1-2 years. Bottled at 45.2% ABV, natural color of an amber with a reddish hue, and I have a feeling that it is chill filtered. The nose starts with sweet cinnamon candy. It’s Red Hots all the way, the chewy ones. Spicy oak with fruity port notes. Dark berries, caramel apples, plums, oranges, figs and a very light lemon citrus. Cinnamon chocolate, vanilla, toffee, maple syrup. A light coffee/mocha note. More cinnamon and a soft mint note. You’ll notice I didn’t mention peat or smoke. That’s because there really isn’t any to speak of. I know HP is known for light peating, but this is ridiculous. The palate has a very strange arrival. It’s a strong and distinct flavor that for the life of me I cannot put into words. It’s maddening! Here’s what I can describe. Cinnamon and lots of it. Vanilla, milk chocolate, white chocolate. Slightly bitter red grapes, blueberries, raspberries. Warm oak, toffee and caramel. A touch of pepper and, what’s this...is it smoke? Yes, finally the barest trace of smoke, hidden underneath 8 pounds of cinnamon. Light to medium bodied mouthfeel, oily, creamy and mouth coating. The finish is strange. Some sips it disappears in a flash, other times it lingers for 10 minutes or more. Cinnamon is the predominant note on the finish, but there is also a little mint and a nondescript fruitiness. This is a strange beast to be sure. Normally when you hear port maturation you think super sweet fruits and a thick mouthfeel. This is all cinnamon with the fruits playing second chair French horn. It’s also very non-HP with hardly any peat smoke and none of the tropical fruits I’ve come to expected. It really feels like a Glenmorangie experiment, but one that works fairly well. I like it. Now, is it $300 good? No, certainly not, but it’s still HP and they tend to command these prices lately. This is a 3.5-3.75, but I’m going to round up to 4 because of its uniqueness. Thanks for the sample Lee. Cheers

So this was on "fire" sale for 120 and I figured why not. I went in expecting it to suck and well...lets see. Nose - The first impression is that this is very suety and earthy. The "fire" concept isn't out of line at all, this is perhaps the most earthy highland park I can recall, I know I had a few NAS pours where they were as or more peated but still this is coming off more so on the nose. Then there's that port finishing giving way to this dark dark fruit notes that play very well off of the earth character to give you this thought of well kinda lava lol. It's like I'm thinking in my head light purple hues over dark warm earth. So purple it's a bit reddish if you will. Going back I'm starting to get salted meats as well and then I always get a bit of a cooking sheet wax and sugar sweetness off HP's spirit, which I think my buddy mike is saying it white chocolate, I don't agree but I think we're getting that same element. I'm personally not a huge fan but I appreciate where they went here. Taste - Up front I get a lot of sweet and waxy and lightly earthy notes. Plums and dates. Then as it reaches the finish it gets really dirty earthy and funky weird. I could see this has charred oak smoke. Vanilla, chia latte, smoked fish even perhaps and yes some kind of chili powder or other hot peppery note. A really unique series of spices and notes really come through and the whisky is just an ever evolving transition from the start to finish, never staying the same. This all brings me to a difficult score to give as there's a lot here I like and a lot I don't. I however think they really nailed their goal of a "FIRE" edition and in that I have to give some praise while at the same time fully believing most people won't really enjoy this one. As a result the fire is for me a 2.5 out of 5. It's a profile and flavor you can't get elsewhere, it's well executed in terms of their goal, but it's also just weird in ways I don't think others are going to want either. Give I got this 300 MSRP bottles for 120, I'm guessing i'm not alone in my thoughts.

I was eager to taste this whisky since it came out. The bottle was so beautiful and everyone was talking about it and i finally had the chance of getting my hands on it and it is what the name says: a Fire. Lets talk about the bottle. It is a reddish crimson glass which looks like lava, and it comes in a wooden volcano shaped case. Amazing presentation, that symbolizes "Muspelheim, the glowing Norse fire realm of destruction". It is all about the viking mythology of Ragnarok and rebirth. Amazing. But... is the whisky any good? Well... lets see: Bottled at 45.2%abv, golden - ambar color. This have been entirely matured in refilled port wine casks. On the nose, on the palate, the aftertaste, everything is a volcano. Nose: uncorking gives you a salty - heathery peat right away. Once in the glass, it is warm sand, very sulphuric. Ashes, a scorched field from some war, or a braveheart / Mel Gibson movie. After a while, some lemon or mild citrusness appear. After the first sip, some milk chocolate magical appears. Palate is as hot as it can be. Look at this tasting notes: ashes, pepper, Red Hot Chilli Peppers (not the band), super spicy, slight vanilla and maybe some red fruits, but they are way too undermine by the spiciness. Aftertaste is a Mortal Kombat Fatality for your palate. Wasabi, Chilli and salt... but not off-putting. So... if you look at the notes, it is a fire. It is a volcano. But is it any good? I don't think this is a bad whisky at all, but i am not a spice fan myself, so for me, its a 77 over a 100 and i know some of you will kill me for that score. I know that maybe im punishing its score due to mu own personal taste, buy i got to stay true to my feelings about this whisky and it doesn't have the greatest nose, or a great palate or a great aftertaste. I am not a hardcore fan about port matured whiskies so this might not come as a suprise either. So, its a 77, hope the Ice Edition is better.

Another Highland Park and an opportunity to try this elusive and exclusive whisky thanks to @LeeEvolved through our whisky tour group. A rare treat. NAS from Highland Park have generally disappointed me and, though I may not have have this again, I an anticipating a memorable experience. Taking in the aromas, cinnamon powder and sweet nuttiness greet you. An earthiness exists in the spicy-sweetness. Raisin Bran, barley sugar, honey, heather and vanilla are the body of the nose. Hints of maritime and an extemely faint peat or char are lurk but take time to come through. Take a draw. White pepper warming on arrival. Sweetened vanilla, cinnamon sugar and chocolate make a nice sweet base. A touch of concord grape is detectable and adds a nice uniqueness. The finish is drying of oak tannins. Ginger spice prickle with vanilla-honey. The tail end of the finish fades with a touch of grape juice. A gentle sweetness with a pinch of zing. A clean and sweet freshness. I quite enjoyed. However, is it worth the exhorbanant price? No. I found this to be somewhat on par with Glen Garicoh 12 and at a fraction of the cost, I would reach for the Glen Garicoh (because of the cost). [85/100][Tasted: 12/3/17]

I bought a 2oz drink of this last night during our dinner out. Quite honestly, I was surprised to see the big red triangle of a bottle sitting here stateside. Didn't realize it made its way over the Atlantic already. I paid $20 for a 2 oz. Aroma is smoky floral...like embers burning in a field of lavender. It's that peat-port combo I've recently grown to like. Taste first hits you with cinnamon and light floral, with a kick of red berries. Finish is looooong and hot with more cinnamon. Overall...it's really good, but $300/bottle good? Not so sure on that. I'm glad I bought a drink for $20, not sure I'd be shelling out $300 for it, especially when there are others far better and more reasonable. Unless if you're a HUGE fan of HP that you simply must get your hands on every release, I'd pass this up and buy another peat-port combo that's just as good and for a fraction of the price. This is a case where you're paying for a premium for the backstory and marketing.