Highland Park Orkney 11 Year Old 2007 Asta Morris

If the label says Orkney, it’s a safe bet it’s an undisclosed Highland Park. That is certainly the case for this bottling from Asta Morris. The malt escaped from the cask at the beginning of this year – at 58%.

Lovely nose, quite mineral. I get wet rocks, chalk and soft notes of ashes. Then some mokatine, blood oranges and juicy pears. The peel of lemons for a bittersour (that’s not a word, I know) touch. Lemongrass and some heather. Sea breeze. Wonderful.

The arrival is soft, pretty oily and quite spicy. Think white pepper and a lot of sweet peat. Then pebbles on the beach and lemons. A drop of juicy honey and an overdose of lemon juice. But it works. It’s very chiseled, making it very attractive.

The finish is medium long (I would have loved it just a tad longer) on oak wood and lemon juice.

This is the kind of Highland Park that my brother in (malt) arms Manny would go nuts over. I wonder if he is familiar with this one. Around 85 EUR, but somewhat hard to find nowadays.

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