Highland Park 30 Year Old
Oldest/priciest not always the best
0 485
Review by @mattberg
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall85
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- Brand: Highland Park
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Island
- ABV: 48.1%
I've tried quite a few HP distillery offerings over the past couple of years and have been looking forward with great anticipation to the 30 year bottled at 48.1%. This retails in London for about £230 with the 5cl available at £19. As one would expect this has a beautifully deep toffee honey colour and sits in the glass elegantly. I tried two drams with and without just a teaspoon of water.
On the nose I found, old oranges, cinnamon, pineapple and coconut, the body was thick and oily with a strong malt blast, tastes of deep oak and mahogany and bees wax with a surprisingly short but deep orange/marmalade finish. I left the second dram to sit for an hour added a drop of water which didn't really change the experience. I'm glad I tried this but this didn't really inspire me in anyway, I just felt I was drinking very old whisky. I still think the best HP's are the 16 yo and 18 yo's for balance, texture and finish. I'm glad I've tried this HP 30yo but for sure I would not rush to buy it at £230 per bottle, and in fact have tried (for me) far better and more inspiring Whiskies at £50-£70, Springbank 15/18yo's and Talisker 18yo immediately come to mind as excellent Whiskies.
Oldest and priciest are simply not always the best, but perhaps worth trying as part of ones's Whisky exploration.
Find where to buy Highland Park whisky
Just picked up a fantastic 25 year old HP from Cadenheads in London,still some left if you happen to be passing by any time soon.Its a single sherry cask bottling and worth every penny of its £120 price tag, review on whisky fun website if you are interested.