Highland Park 33 Years Old Mackillop's Choice Cask 8395 43% 1973

Distillerie	Highland Park
Embouteilleur	Mackillop's Choice
Serie	Single Cask
Mise en bouteille pour
Date de distillation	22.06.1973
Date de mise en bouteille	06.2007
Pays	Écosse
Région	Orkney
Age	33
Cask Type
Numéro de fût	8395
Alcohol percentage	43
Volume
État	In Orgininal Box
Étiquette	Parfait
Stock	0

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Serge Valentin (86)

Highland Park 1973/2007 (43%, McKillop’s Choice, cask #8395) Colour: white wine. Nose: very unusual, starting on big notes of peanut butter and mint, getting then a bit more porridgy. Indian cashew and cream sauce. Gets then more resinous and herbal (forest, pine needles, fern). Another one that’s very entertaining! Mouth: we have pretty much the same here, and the 43% are far from being ‘weakish’. Good body, quite some resin, dried and crystallised fruits, herbs, a lot of mint... Maybe just a faint ‘paperiness’ but also quite some salt. No smokiness, that is. Finish: medium long, clean, very pleasantly resinous, with a little vanilla from the wood. Comments: a fresh and clean old Highland Park displaying excellent herbal and minty notes. Would fetch higher scores at 46%+, that is.

Whisky Notes (91)

This is quite a rare Highland Park 1973 bottled by Mackillop’s Choice. Sister cask #8396 was bottled by Jack Wiebers in 2003.

Mackillop’s Choice was founded by Angus Dundee Distillers (Tomintoul, Glencadam) in 1996 and bottlings have been released since 1998. All releases are single casks selected by Lorne Mackillop – originally a Master of Wine – and bottled at 43% or 46%.

Nose:

starts a little shy and mostly malty / nutty, but folds open so nicely. Juicy oranges, whiffs of mint and pine resin. Eucalyptus honey and nice beeswax. Subtle fruity notes, rhubarb and sourish pear. Some floral notes as well (orange blossom). Quite delicate, not extremely wide but very elegant.

Mouth:

oily and waxy, with resinous notes and some pepper at first. Sweet lemon and mint. Quinces jam. Hints of green banana too, a little pineapple, slightly surprising but nice. Then onto bags of (white) grapefruit and a little oak.

Finish:

long, fruity, oaky, still on grapefruit and mint.

Great old Highland Park, quite neutral in a way but showing plenty of complexity and delicacy. I liked this very much, but it doesn’t seem to show up in auctions regularly.

BOW (91)