Review by: The Muskox

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Distillery: Highland Park.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islands.

ABV: 40%.

Age: NAS.

Price: $50 CAD for 750 mL in Ontario.

Color: Pale amber. Nice to see an “entry level” expression with a natural colour. No colour added, chill-filtered.

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Nose: Sweet, buttery, fruity sherry. Lots of candied fruit: orange peel, lemon drops, maraschino cherries. Bananas and raisins. Buttered toast, getting breadier with time. A touch of cinnamon. Floral honey. I’m sensing some PX-sherry-seasoning. I’m not picking up any smoke to speak of. A touch of earthy funk, though, which I wasn’t really expecting, but am enjoying nonetheless.

Palate: Fairly thin. Lots of honey, toffee, and fruit up front. Something about the sherry seems quite fragile. A fair bit of cinnamon and some woody spice. Develops into strong green tea, even getting towards seaweed.

Finish: Short. More of that cinnamon and green tea. A touch of mint. Bread crusts. The sherry is way in the back now. Slightly mineral and seaweed.

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Notes: Not bad, but wow, it’s a huge step down from the 12 year. I like the cinnamon and malt notes, and the earthiness is nice too. There’s no smoke to speak of. It’s just too thin. Just get the 12 year instead of this. Even at a pretty good price, this whisky, like so many budget single malts, gets demolished in terms of quality by Deanston Virgin Oak.

Final Score: 67.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.