This one, part of the “Orcadian Vintage Series,” is not exactly in everyone’s budget (okay, it’s in very few people’s budget), and it’s not even being imported to the U.S., but I do enjoy it very much.
Highland Park, 1970 vintage, 48%, £2,250
This limited edition bottling consists of a marriage of both European and American oak. Still lively for its age, and beautifully balanced. A mouthful of golden fruit (sultana, pineapple upside down cake, tangerine, over-ripe nectarine) balanced by soothing, creamy vanilla. A peppering of dried spice, chamomile tea, toasted oak, cigar box, and subtle smoke round out the palate. Soft and seductive.
Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 94
Yum!
B.J., “Yum!” indeed, but STG£2,250.00 worth?!
John, could you recommend a similar independent HP bottling from this year?
Also, is there an age statement on this? “1970 Vintage” doesn’t necessarily mean 40YO.
Usually the bottling date is close within at least a year or two of the release date, Luke– Though of course it doesn’t always work that way and with old vintage bottles it can be hard to figure out the age. I’d guess it’s probably close to 40 yo.
Can’t help you with a comp Indie bottle. Sorry.
Looks like your samples are pulling out of their slump– It’s always gratifying to read ones thoughts on a whisky he loves. How many more these upcoming reviews are going to be in the 90′s?
Of the whiskies (and whiskeys) that I have reviewed and not yet published here, I think there’s one more brand breaking the 90s. It’s refreshing to see some really nice whiskies hitting the market.
On the flipside, I have a 70-something whisky queued up too.
..I sure hope that’s not the Springbank CV ..as much as I lke the 10 year that would be a real bummer.
I am not often jealous of your ability to try all these grand whiskys that most of us can’t, but I am indeed jealous here. I have always wanted to try a very old HP.
I recieved a very small review sample of this (less than 30 ml) and nothing was left over when I finished my review. Otherwise, I’d send you some. Maybe I’ll get more next time…?
30ml? Is that really enough to do notes with? You must have used extreme focus. I would have had trouble.
Extreme focus indeed.
25ml is already a lot to make a review. For me, it’s too much. I usually make a +-15Cl twice. Like this I have two different tasting for compare if they are some evolution.
Same for me, around 15-20ml in 2 tastings usually on 2 differents days
Keep my name and contact number if you need help on your next reviews, i’ll be very please to help !
Looks like there’s another whiskey breaking the 90s barrier rating, after a review I just conducted. More good news…
I was just curious if you always (most of the time) drink out of The Glencairn nosing glass? Say if your just at home enjoying a favorite that your familiar with, do you still use a nosing glass or something else? Love the magazine although it does cause me to call around every liquor store in town at times all gitty to track down a specific bottle.
I have a variety of glassware, depending on my mood and purpose.
John, if you ever are low on review samples and looking for a topic for future posts here, I’d be most interested in the different glassware you use…and what guides you to use one over the other at certain times. I’m a creature of habit — I just use the Glencairn or, on occasion, a Riedel glass for Scotch, one of two I received as a gift. I’d be interested in learning more! Thanks!
I made a note of it. Thanks for the suggestion.
>>”I think there’s one more brand breaking the 90s.”<<
Hmmm . . . can't help but guess it might be the Redbreast 15 . . . Isn't it supposed to be coming to our shores soon?
Now that I look at John’s list I suspect the 70′s will be the Canadian Mist..even though John doesn’t seem to be a huge Laphroaig fan I am going to guess that he will give the Triple Wood a 91..
I like anything that tastes good. Last year I gave the new 18 year old Laphroaig a 90 and gave the new 25 year old Laphroaig a 95 (and “Top ten new whiskies of 2009 honors”).
..OK I remember that now. Might have been confusing reviewers there..
woodisgood, there are various batches of Redbreast 15 which we in the Irish Whiskey Society have made a point of tracking (by serial number). The batches are listed in this post:
http://forum.irishwhiskeysociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=865
Which of the later ones is landing in the States is unknown to us at this time.
The 1st and 2nd batches are genuine Classics whilst the later ones, although marvellous, are slightly more “Woodeny”.
Ye are in for a treat when RB15 lands in the states.
We look forward to John’s review of this batch.
This type of dedication warms my heart—almost like a dram of Redbreast!
Very very cool, thank you for pointing me to this!
woodisgood, for the best info on production of Irish Pure Pot Still Whiskey (Green Spot and Redbreast) and all other Irish Whiskies I recommend David Havelin’s http://www.irishwhiskeynotes.com
Enjoy.
Very interesting. And makes sense when you see my review of it.
John, et al, Re Redbreast 15YO:
Expect a VERY long thread of correspondance from Ireland when the review is published…
I saw the Redbreast 15 at Bayway in NJ…would be most interested in early review of that, given I love the “regular” one!
Wow, this sounds amazing. Thanks for the notes! I’m glad their more attainable bottlings taste so good…makes it a little less painful that most of us will never try one of these older vintages.
One question, though…you talk about HP doing marriages of bourbon and sherry casks, but everything I’ve read on the HP web site, and seen in Gerry Tosh videos, indicates that they ONLY use sherry casks in their OB releases. They do use a combination of European and American oak, though. Are you sure they’re using some bourbon casks in this release?
Thanks,
Jeff
Regarding your second paragraph, yes you are correct with this bottling. My press release states that this bottling is a marriage of European and American oak cask. There is no mention that the American oak contained bourbon. I corrected the post accordingly. Good catch!
But, when HP ran their single cask promotions to retailers several years ago, I tasted samples from sherry casks (of varying degrees of sherry influence) and bourbon casks. (There has also been many indie bottlings in bourbon casks.)
Thanks for the update! I believe you that there is some HP sitting in a warehouse somewhere in bourbon casks. And a one-off release like this would be a good place for them to use some of those. It would be interesting to try one of those indie bottlings!
I just also knew that it’s a common misconception that they use bourbon casks in their regular releases. HP 15 being a good example of where that mistake is often made.
The last thing I want to do is perpetuate a misconception…