Name: Highland Park 25 Year Old (2000s)
Brand: Highland Park
Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

This was one of the drams we tried at the latest Fulldram tasting. It is the previous version of Highland Park 25 Year Old, released early 2000s. It didn’t live long because it was replace by the current oval bottles around 2006. It contains 50% first-fill sherry casks.

Highland Park 25 yo
(50,7%, OB 2004)

Nose: starts a little musty and meaty, with damp leaves and a floral kind of peat. Hints of caramel. I expected bolder sherry notes from its colour. Herbal notes (eucalyptus, heather) and coastal touches. Hints of red berries and a little vanilla. Very complex.

Mouth: slightly sharp. Herbal wood and heathery peat, with big chocolate notes and spices. Roasted notes, including coffee. Tobacco leaves and leather. Tart oranges and lemon. Fades on all kinds of spices (pepper, eucalyptus, nutmeg). Missing a bit of sherry roundness maybe, but again complexity is very high.

Finish: long, on toffee, walnuts and orange peel.

Technically an entertaining and complex whisky, yet somehow it didn’t impress me entirely because of the relative sharpness. Auction value around € 350.

Score: 89/100

2Comments

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1

stumptownterrior on 4 November 2015 at 08:04

I tasted a bottle of the same vintage 18 as you reviewed in the 25 (above). Same label. It was terribly sharp, bitter and acrid. I think the whisky inside the bottle was very old and oxydized? I spotted it in a bar and bought a glass.

I used to love HP 18 in the 2000’s. It has rolled far far downhill indeed. Very sad.

This said, I tasted a special distillery bottling of the new label HP 18 two years ago that just blew me away. It was even better than the older HP’s of yesteryear! Mental note: HP has some treasures way up north stowed away. Or else at Edrington HQ?

The HP 12 used to be much better, as well. I don’t drink it any longer.

This said, the 15 seems to be holding its own. In fact, I like the 15 a little better than I did some years ago. It the well kept secret of readily available HP’s these days in the USA: a bit on the light side, but very nice indeed: delicate radiance, and for those with gifted sensory organs it will not disappoint.
2

WhiskyNotes on 4 November 2015 at 21:59

The 18 from this type of bottle was not good indeed, compared to previous and later bottlings.

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