Highland Park 10 year old review

Highland Park 10 year old comes from the most northerly whisky distillery in Scotland, the Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall, Orkney Island. This distillery has found its way to my heart, being one of my favorite distilleries. Never disappointing, always delivering top quality whiskies like their core range 12 and 18YOs. I even liked their 40% ABV Travel Retail Warrior Series sets, even though they were more on the ordinary side.

Highland Park 10YO single malt has been matured in Ex-Sherry casks like HP usually matures its whisky. It comes in a 35 cl bottle, which I like. It’s always nice to sample whiskies in smaller bottles, so you can keep the budget low. Sad to say but that’s one of the few positive things about this whisky.

Run Forrest, run!

Highland Park 10YO is more on the mediocre side of HP distillery selection. This is not a bad whisky as one would expect with the track record they have. But it still is just okay. I gave it over 80 points but it was close not receiving score that high. This dram needs time in the glass and lots of chewing, before it leaves a positive impression. Even though it’s not complex.

Can I say simple yet tricky? Forrest Gump of whiskies…

Matured in:

Ex-Sherry casks

ABV: 40%

Non-chill filtered, no added colour

Colour: Amber

Nose: Smoke is surprisingly strong, not a peat monster but smokier than other Highland Park expressions I’ve had so far. Citrus notes and berries nicely combined with smoke. Floral and sweet. Mellows down quite fast.

Taste: Bit fruity and bitter and crispy, mangos and wee honey notes. Bit floral as well. Salty coastal notes and green apples. Sherry influence starts to show when you leave it resting in the glass.

Finish: Very bitter with wee traces of smoke. Very oily with some nutty notes and zesty green fruits. Simple medium length finish and aftertaste.

Balance: Not in the same class as other Highland Park expressions I’ve tasted before, especially the ones with age statements. But still an okay single malt whisky, as I was expecting with this distillery in question. Usually the 40% alcohol per volume level is not a problem with HP expressions but this time it felt like one of the main issues for not getting enough character.