Highland Park 12 Year (2005) Single Cask Series Texas Edition

Review by: The Muskox

Highland Park recently did a whole bunch of these regional single-cask releases. The Ontario one was ludicrously expensive, so here I am with a glass of the Texas release. Funny how these things work out sometimes.

Distillery: Highland Park.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islands (Orkney).

ABV: 62.7%. Cask strength.

Age: 12 years. Distilled in 2005. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Cask #3600, a refill sherry butt.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Dark gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: A bit hot. Spicy horseradish root, which if you haven’t tried it is delicious. Mild oloroso sherry. Fresh-baked apple pie, along with fresh flowers. Maple candy.

I didn’t spend too much time with it neat, and added a couple pipette-squirts of water. It’s still quite hot. Cooked apples and chocolate orange. Some Black Forest cake now, as well as an herbal spearminty element. Earthy, slightly mushroomy.

Wow, more rest and it freshens right up: now it’s honey- and flower-forward and much sweeter. Slightly grassy, with drifting smoke. Spices too: cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

Palate: Silky texture, and prickly but not searing. Arrives quickly with caramel and aromatic peat smoke. Loads of dark chocolate. Oily and aromatic woody notes as well. A good bit of cola on the back end.

The water steps things up here. Very dense. Lots of punky wood and mushrooms.

Okay, after tripling the amount of water in here it’s really started to come together. The heat is gone, replaced by caramel, cedar, moss, cherries, plums, and gentle smoke. Some amber maple syrup as well.

Finish: Woodsy and spiced. Mushrooms, decaying leaves, dark chocolate, nutmeg, Dr. Pepper, rosehips, clove, Spanish chorizo, toasted cedar, apple pie, cherry, and spearmint.

Conclusion: Wow, this was excellent. I love these “woodsy” drams – mushrooms, cedar, decaying wood/leaves, moss, and mulch… One of my favourite flavour profiles. I feel like for those notes to be super-intense without the whisky being too savoury. This whisky just knocks it out of the (Highland) park in that respect (sorry). Those sweeter notes and that smoke and chorizo… this is a winner. If you come across this whisky, be generous with the water. Thanks for not phoning it in on this one, Highland Park!

Final Score: 91.

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.

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