Highland Park

I've found that most who prefer the Islay whiskies, do not particularly rate lowland and speyside malts as highly. Those who do not like the smoke, peat and phenols, find Highland Park one of the top favorites. Depends on what you think is good whisky, I guess.

Not so fast young feller me lad.

I DO love the latest Highland Park 12 bottling WAY more than that of the last few years 'cause it seems to have rediscovered it's smoke after years of blanditude.

I really like Glenfarclas 12 (or izzit 10) as a regular evening dram.

I dote on Ardbeg and Laphroig youngsters and love the Lagavulin 16 as well. Bowmore 17 is very nice.

I think Laddy and Springbank and Bunny are just scrumptous.

Talisker and Oban are really neat.

As a matter of fact, I cannot think of any single malt I don't like.

Oh sure, Isle of Jura 10 has gotten kinda whimpish lately. I'm just waiting for it to regain it's former taste.

How can you NOT love them all.

mdavis wrote:

Still not enough for the likes of me.

On more tasting I'm finding the Tobermory a tad sweet too. I'll be getting back to those Islays soon.

I was going to get Talisker next as it was my fave before I got into this I want to compare it with the ones I've had lately.

I guess.

About what I'd heard, I was real surprised it was light on that stuff what with all the hand malting and local barley.

What a splendid itemization of malts to love. Except for, as you note, the Jura 10. I love the others, but I actually kind of dislike the Jura 10 (I have to confess). Disliking is very far from loving, but there are other malts that I also have to confess that I do not love, but potentially mildly like (semi). Things like Auchriosk, Glenfiddich, Old Fettercairn--the list could go on very long. I do not love those and a whole assemblage of mild or mildy-tacky malts, PARTICULARLY a whole mess of expressions bottled at 40%. As an extreme example, I WANT to like Glenturret, but the last one I had tasted like 'turret' perhaps without the ending 'ret' but with a very regrettable fourth letter of the alphabet. "Loving" this malt, is a bit like loving your third child who screams from midnight to 4am and hurls televisions onto the floor because it is not showing the program he wants to watch at one in the morning (and I should know--I've clinically evaluated kids like that--and have had whiskes like that).

Thank the merciful god that we in North Carolina are not plagued with spirits with names like Auchriosk and Old Fettercairn and Glenturret.

It was my second child that hurled stuff about. Third child thoughtfully became a data base manager and hasn't bothered us much since.

Douglas W Hoyt wrote:

Does he/she do taxes?

You've obviously not tried Tamnavulin 10 :-)

*Dreadfull* stuff.

Jim

Ah, yes, I always get into trouble on generalizations!

The only malt I've had (out of perhaps 50) that I could not enjoy at least some was the bottle of Cadenhead's Edradour 19 yr. bottled in 1995. Dreadful. I left a note on the list a while back. Tastes like deodorant soap, although the nose had only a touch of perfume.

Upon the recommendation of others here, I did finally return the bottle to the retailer and did, in fact, receive a credit after the manager tasted the whisky. Needless to say, I did not invest it wisely, but rather carried off another bottle of Cadenhead's Imperial-Glenlivet 15 yr., another 1995 bottling, which is nice.

My preferences are for lighter malts in the summer such as Glenlivet 15 French Oak finish, Auchentoshan 10 yr., Glenrothes 1992, and some sherried malts, mainly Aberlour 15, a'bunadh batch 16, and Mac cask (NAS). I also have a Glenfarclas 17 and 105 on order. I've had a tiny taste of the 17 and liked it very much. The 105 is a recommendation from Johannes at Malt Maniacs.

Well, having learned that if I poke a stick into the group I can get interesting comments, I'll be back again. I tried that Jura 10 a short while ago and while I don't dislike I think I did find it a little bland. You dislike Glenfiddich, I've not tried that for a long time but remember it being v good - maybe that was conditioning and I didn't know better?

Still - no-one knows why Highland Park is named thusly?

-- X (Still trying to decide on xmas/boithday/hogmany dram)

I think because it IS a Highland whisky - if you go by the old region system with only four regions: Highlands, Lowlands, Campbeltown and Islay. Not considering the Islands part of the Highlands, as well as breaking out Speyside as a separate region, are more recent ideas.

Good question about the name Highland Park. A web search turns up little or nothing. I did find that the washbacks were used as communal baths by servicemen during WWII, which no doubt contributes to it's outstanding flavor!

I bought Glenfiddich 12 and Solera Cask 15 as a couple of the very first SMs that I tried. After comparison with others, I found them good, but a bit bland and lacking in that "unique" something that gives so many singles their character. I would like trying some of the older, less "mass market" versions. Like beer, when you strive to create the same whisky year after year so your admiring public knows what's in the bottle when they buy it, you must forfeit uniqueness for consistency, I suppose.

Wikipedia says this about the name:

The name of this whisky does not refer to the area of Scotland known as The Highlands, from which the Orkney Islands are excluded, but rather to the fact that the distillery was founded on an area distinguished from a lower area nearby.

Doesn't really answer the question, does it?

Best answer I've seen though.

Ummm -- because it's on the road leading to the highlands of Orkney? Above Kirkwall?

-- Larry

The Orkney islands are some form of barren, windswept outcroppings of their own--but everything is relative. There is the Old Man Of Hoy

which is a relatively spectacular height, and here are some piccies of Ward Hill, which at 479m is the highest point on the Orkneys:

"Highland Park" does sound like a relative vanity, but ultimately, the Orkneys are VERY cool territory, like these stranger's impressions:

Well, don't ask me - I've never been there.

The hill on which the distillery was built was known as "High Park" and later became "Highland Park".

Hear, hear. Go there if you can.