Highland Park Dark Origins

HP have a history of making quality drams so I was pleased to purchase and open this bottle. It is made from spirit matured in different cask types. 80% first-fill Sherry casks (20% refill) - 60% are first-fill European oak, with 20% being first-fill American oak

Amber in the glass, bottled at 46.8% and bottled in a black bottle.

The nose is smoky, bitter coffee, cinnamon, vanilla and dark fruits.

The palate gives pepper, smoke, coffee and peat.

The finish is long, drying pepper, dark chocolate, fading bitter coffee, peat and smoke.

It is interesting and whilst its good I feel ever so slightly disappointed. I think the HP 12 is bang for buck, the HP 18 is just great and this expression is good....but... for the money its not as good as it should be. Whilst we shouldn't judge on value when tasting it does nag a little. I feel that if you drank it without knowing what it was and you like HP you will like this. Does it fall short of the hype and my expectations? I think both but I still like it, will still drink it and may even buy another bottle in the future.

In my experience I have found HP to have an awful lot of batch variance in their releases, particularly their standard 12YO. Sometimes it's a rich smokey experience, other times I've found it rather bland. The 18YO is generally excellent, (although I've had some samples of that which were not as great as they should have been) and have also been fortunate enough to try the 21YO. But I've also had a very forgettable Indie Bottle recently, (so forgettable I've forgotten who bottled it).

So given the mixed experiences I've had with Highland Park, and my general skepticism towards NAS releases I was in two minds about whether to go for this one.

On the nose I get strong honey and smoke. It's definitely at the far smokey end of HP's general profile. Quite rich, but there is a hint of sharp fruit cutting through. Stewed dates and a bit of fruit pudding. Treacle, which becomes more pronounced as it opens up. Everything stays wrapped in a pleasant smokiness.

Palate: Intense treacle and honey with lots of smoke. Liquorice and Fennel notes. Some black cooked fruit is there - not so much at first but becomes prominent after a bit of time in the glass.

A fairly short-medium finish of rich treacle and smoke, becoming slightly bitter.

Like many, I am not keen on the trend to NAS whiskies but that does not mean they are all bad. This could almost be HP's answer to Ardbeg Uigedail, (well if it was Cask Strength). It is a very nice dram - at the rich smokey end of Highland Park's profile which is just the style I like.

This Dark Origins from Highland Park is a NAS-release that saw the light of day last year. According to official sources it contains twice as many sherry casks in the mix (next to bourbon) than are used in the classic HP12. That should make for some more dark fruit, no? I am happy that it is bottled at a higher strength, though: 46,8% ABV.

The nose is warm and dark for sure. Pleasant. Loads of sherry influences which translates into raisins, roasted chestnuts, warm oak, touches of earth, nuts of all sorts, a doused bonfire on the beach. Hints of coconut and loads of cinnamon. After a few moments some chocolate kicks in. Yes, this is quite good.

It is creamy and very sweet from the start, but also very spicy. Loads of dried fruits such as raisins, plums and blood oranges. Nicely smoky too. A lot of woodsmoke that promotes the slightly bitter oranges. Liquorice, candied ginger: those are the spices on duty. Midpalate it becomes a tad dry. The oak starts to roar.

The finish is long and offers even more smoke. At the death, a salty edge appears.

Well, well, for a NAS-expression this is quite good. I would have been excellent if there was just a little less wood on the palate. Around 65 EUR.

The first bottle of Highland Park Dark Origins which I sampled and reviewed was very bad, with nothing to smell and taste, after 6 weeks open, but sulphur. Happily, Take # 2 from a different bottle is a better experience. The currently reviewed bottle is owned by @Nock, and has been open for 6 weeks

I make a big deal online and in person of pointing out that two or more bottles of whisky with the same labels can taste and smell markedly different from one another

Sometimes you get a great bottle, and then find disappointment in a second one of the same expression. Other times you get a bad bottle, but find a later bottle of the "same" whisky to be much different and much better. I have had quite a few experiences of both of these extreme examples of whisky brand 'cognitive dissonance'. Some very popular whiskies I was ready to abandon for good until I realised that it could be that only one bottle in 5, 10, 20, or 100 was of the crappy sort of my first experience of it. I did indeed find out that more often than not that whisky was indeed much better than had been my first experience of it

Nose: decent Highland Park malt, with nice sherry wine flavours, and some sulphur. In this bottle the nose sulphur is noticeable and a defect, but it is not enough to ruin the whisky. You can still also smell most of the other flavours

Taste: sulphured sherry is 'dirty sherry'. The sulphur presence in this bottle is more noticeable on the palate than in the nose. It is still not enough to dominate the whisky and to override the other flavours. You can taste the Highland Park barley malt. You can taste the sherry wine flavours. The wine and malt flavours are quite pleasant here, and only partially marred by the sulphur presence

Finish: the continuation of the palate finishes on the dirty side of the sherry

Balance: subtract the sulphur and Dark Origins is another great Highland Park whisky. I am not surprised that those who are not sulphur sensitive like this batch of Dark Origins whisky. This is still a significantly damaged whisky. Every sample of Highland Park 15 yo and 18 yo which I have tasted, has been much cleaner than is this, the cleaner of the two bottles of Highland Park Dark Origins from which I have sampled

I managed to total score this better bottle of Dark Origins the same as did Jim Murray. Don't buy the OTHER bottle of this which I reviewed. But then, you won't know which of those bottles being sold are the ringer bottles

Water added: 1) bundled the nose flavours, and mades the whisky higher pitched and sweeter, 2) bundled and homogenised the flavours on the palate, and somewhat reduced the sulphur influence, and 3) greatly lessened the sulphur influence on the finish. Water is a good way to go with this partiular bottle of this particular whisky. I would say that water adds 3 points to the score

Strength: 22/25; very good strength of flavours across the board

Quality: 18/22; some very good flavours, some lousy flavours

Variety: 21/25; good variety, but you just wish one of the prominent flavours were absent

Harmony: 20/25; it's hard for sulphur to harmonise with anything else

Comment: this is the sort of review which I love to do, because it illustrates two points which I think need to be more emphasised, 1) that there is frequent significant batch and bottle variation in whisky, and 2) that for those who are sensitive to it, sulphur currently frequently ruins even the best brands of Scottish malt

Highland Park Dark Origins is 'Double first fill sherry cask' matured. There is No Age Statement. The reviewed bottle has been open for 2 months

Nose: can you say 'Sulphur'? The sulphur is intense and dominates the nose from sniff # 1. Sure, there's sherry there too, and some malt, but if you can smell sulphur, you will smell it here in spades. This is no little sulphur, and really gives the whisky a big hit

Taste: yes, the sulphur also dominates the palate. I cannot get past it

Finish: more of the same...sulphur, sulphur, and more sulphur

Balance: there is only one obvious element here, so there is really nothing to balance. If you are highly sulphur insensitive you may like Dark Origins. Otherwise Highland Park Dark Origins is a classic example of a completely sulphur-dominated malt whisky. I usually like Highland Park whisky, but I have a hard time drinking Highland Park Dark Origins

Adding water doesn't change things much

Let’s welcome the newest member of the HP core range. This NAS expression was matured in 80% first-fill sherry butts and 20% refills, so we can expect a good dose of fruity depth here. Apparently the “dark” character of this whisky alludes to a legendary illicit distiller on Orkney, Magnus Eunson, who ran his business under the cloak of night before he founded HP as a legitimate operation. Ok, sure. Let’s taste.

Nose: Initially quite closed, this needs time and water. Caramel, oranges, sherry, heather, coffee, and barley. With time we get cinnamon and sweet cocoa.

Palate: Thick, sweet mouthfeel. Big sherry, tangerines, sweet sultanas, dark berries, milk chocolate, peanut brittle, and some hazelnuts.

Finish: Medium length and sweet. There’s lots of heavy caramel, butter, tangerines, faint smoke, nuts, heather, baking spices, oak, licorice, and loads of both milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

Thoughts: This definitely benefits from water and time. Initially it’s a pretty closed-off whisky. The longer it sits in the glass, the more luxurious it becomes, as sherry, tangerines, and chocolate come to the fore. This is balanced and rich, and the evolution in the glass makes it especially interesting.

Overall this is a very solid Highland Park. It’s nice to have a member of their core range with a decent abv. As usual, the caramel note tends to steal some of the clarity of the peripheral flavours. But the traditional HP flavours of thick caramel, quality sherry, and lush barley are here in spades. But after all the marketing and talk of added sherry casks, this is still closer to the standard profile than I’d hoped. It’s delicious and recommended, but just a tad expensive and over-hyped for what it is.

Well this is really a shift from the norm by Highland Park. I did not really know what to expect after all the hype but I was not disappointed. This is a fabulous dessert whisky. On the nose there is delicious sherry spice with lots of fruit and nut. The palate offers a hint of peat smoke followed by loads of dark chocolate and cherries. Lots of tongue tingling flavours. The finish is long with a huge hit of chocolate and subtle smokiness. Mmmm time for another!