Suggested Highland Park Independent Bottlings

@olivier I'm eagerly waiting for any advice too, HP is on the top of my wishlist, just sorry I can't help!

This post could almost be a discussion of which Independants do you trust and how are they rated, actually that would probably be a good discussion. The only Highland Park indies I've seen lately have been in the Signatory line, they get wide distribution so you should be able to find them. I've had mixed luck with their lower end lines but their cask Strength offerings have been excellent and I would not hesitate to go that route. Park Avenue Liquors may still have their Whisky Live exclusive available.. in New York, I have a bottle of one of their older runs and it is excellent. Finally Cadenheads has a newish line called Duthies (sp?) and I was sorely tempted by a 17y/o Highland Park when I was at the distillery in September, no track record on the line but the price was great.

Indy HP's are usually very different from OBs. This is a common aspect of indies, but for HP it seems to be quite extreme sometimes - some of them are hardly recognizable. If you're looking for independent bottlings as a way to get the profile of a HP 18 / 21 / 25 / 30yo at a lower price, I think you'll be disappointed.

@WhiskyNotes Thank you for the warning; that is exatly what I was hoping for.

I really like the Murray McDavid Highland Park I have which is a 95 finished in Château Lafite casks. And I haven't been disappointed with any of the Murray McDavids so far.

I agree with Shelby re the Murray McDavid I didn't mention them becasue the only ones I've seen lately are the mission series and they would fail the price test, at least around here.

Anyone have any thoughts on Highland Park 1988 Signatory Cask Strength? It costs around $200. Fairly spendy but intriguing. By way of comparision, the standard 25 year in the USA costs about $260 in my state. The ABV for the latest distillery release is 45.7% whereas the Signatory 25 is 55%.

This bottling was matured in a hogshead, not a sherry cask. Most HP is matured in sherry casks, with the exception of the 15 Year standard offering. It is my suspicion that Loki had some hogshead batches mixed in to give it a unique profile. From what I can gather, the hogshead offerings can be a bit wild when compared with the standard distillery offerings. Jedi Mark (The Toshan Man) tasted a Signatory offering a while back and gave it a very low score indeed. Seems they can be all over the board. Not sure about this latest one.

I am also intrigued by a Longmorn 1992 21YR Signatory Cask Strength that is at 55% as well. It costs $150, which is far more reasonable.

Cadenhead does some good bottling a of HP.