Highland Park Dark Origins celebrates the early days of Magnus Eunson's illicit distilling on Orkney, back before the distillery was even founded in 1798. Magnus worked as a butcher and church official by day, but by night he was a legendary whisky smuggler and distiller outwitting the exciseman.
To honour their hero (the Batman of the Orkney Islands, if you will), Highland Park created a whisky with a suitably 'dark' character. Using 80% first-fill sherry casks (20% refill) - 60% are first-fill European oak, with 20% being first-fill American oak - an exciting, spicy, chocolatey whisky has been produced.
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
Dusty baking spices and cocoa at first, cinnamon, vanilla, dates. Coffee cream Revels (possibly a couple of the orange ones too), a touch of blackcurrant/liquorice, plus butterscotch and an interplay between milk and dark chocolate.
Sweet, fragrant peat emerges with nutty melted milk chocolate and a little orange alongside some pastries.
Long and sweet, a little dry chocolate, just a hint of that heather smoke, then salivating.
Rounded first-fill Sherry notes come from both the European and American oak casks. This is a great, chocolatey addition of a (teenage) no age statement release.
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My new favorite under $100. Delicious, sherried whisky, with a lot of depth. I think I did taste the "harshness" that others note, but I'd describe it more as a bit of bite. To my mind that wasn't enough to be a negative, against the depth of flavor and the almost unctuous mouth feel and long finish. Well, these things are all a matter of personal taste. But I'm stocking up.
I would've given this whisky four stars had it not been priced twice that of their 12 year, which would fetch an easy four star rating, and at half the price. This whisky isn't as thick or complex as their other core bottlings, nor is it as aged; they should price it accordingly.
Had a sample of this and wasn't impressed. Harsh, uncomplex, nose and taste. Would be fine if it was priced for much less. The packaging and name of the whisky is utterly goofy, but it seems that people are duped by it and willing to pay extra for what is an inferior product. There are some fine NAS whiskys out there that have the decency to be lesser priced than the older single malts. This is not one of them.
I see not everyone is enamored by this, but I think its my new favorite in the "affordable" range (under, say, $80 USD). Strong sherry flavor and very round in the mouth, maybe slightly harsh aftertaste (as the person below said) but more than made up for by the depth of flavor and warmth of the whiskey. Worth the few extra dollars from the basic HP, in my opinion. Lovely all around, but then, different strokes for different folks!
If you already like HPs 12 this one is similar but with some extra character - a great balance of smoke, malt, vanilla and caramel. I disagree with a lot of the reviewers here - it's well worth the little extra.
