Highland Park Fire Edition, the successor of the Ice Edition and the last of this combo. The Fire Edition was matured for 15 years in 100% refill Port wine seasoned casks, a new type of finishing for Highland Park.
It’s not entirely clear what they mean with the cask description, but we expect it to be common bourbon casks seasoned or “treated” with Port wine specifically for the finishing of whisky, instead of using casks taken from Port bodegas. The Port influence should be subtle – not a bad thing if you ask me.
Highland Park 15 yo ‘Fire Edition’
(45,2%, OB 2016, 28.000 btl.)
Highland Park 15 yo ‘Fire Edition’Nose: hmm, vegetal notes up front, with some cooked grains and damp ferns. Opens up on blackberries and prunes. A little vanilla and toffee. Hints of charcoal. Then more fragrant hints of raspberry jam and whiffs of hibiscus. Reminds me of the core range Highland Park, with little make-up from the Port, that’s good.
Mouth: slow start, mostly on citrus notes, before it diverts into smoky notes (elegant and delicious I must say) as well as dark ruby fruit (damsons, forest fruit jam). Overbaked cinnamon pastry. Maybe not as firey as you’d think, but the warm, glowing smokiness is great.
Finish: medium, on raspberry and a hint of peppery smoke.
This Highland Park Fire Edition revolves around dark fruits and warm smoke. Intensity is not very high though, and I’m not fond of the vegetal notes on the nose. Nonetheless one of the best Port matured whiskies I’ve tried. Should arrive in stores early December for around € 230.
Score: 84/100