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.
Box looked really nice in the shop, never tried a Highland Park before. Choose this one over the 12 yo because of the "dark" package. The NAS is not really a problem when the whisky is good. But I'm a little dissapointed by this, it tastes rather young and has a, in my opinion, "chemically" sulfur nose. This isn't so present in the taste though. The smoke is really nice though, but it's covered/influenced by the "chemically" thing. 79 out of 100 malt points, considering the price that's just to low of a score. If you like the sulfur, more chemically/medicinal drams then this one may be the one for you.
This is a nice Scotch but is hideously overpriced. The 12 is just as good, albeit slightly less smoky and drier.
Every HP I've ever tried has been spectacular; the brand ranks among the best IMO. Dark Origins is no different. After having limited myself to journeyman brands for some time (due to a battered wallet), I splurged and got this for $79 USD. One sip told me this HP was leaps and bounds better than the journeyman brands I'd been sipping. This is true quality. The price, however? I don't know if ANY scotch is worth more than $50, but I'll pay it if the mood strikes me. It did this time and I don't regret it. The NAS? I generally agree that NAS makes a scotch suspect, but I've had quite a few of them that were definitely worth a repurchase. I do think it's a gimmick to mature Scotches in flavorful casks for a few years, but it sure does provide a nice variety of flavors and expressions, so I think it's worth it. I do wish they wouldn't be so damn greedy, however.
I dont think this is a bad Whisky by any stretch but for the added price the 12 is a better buy and is just as good.
No age statement?! Why is this seeming to be the new trend in single malts, what theyre really doing is selling us young whisky thats been matured in ultra exclusive casks at a ridiculous price and not expect us to see taste the difference. ..shame of you guys!! This is marketing at its finest, tell us how old your stuff is and stop the mumbojumbo bs! Basically what theyre doing is over hyping a product that is too young and immature abd claiming it to be something it's not! No age statement. .no purchase!
