Got some recent skin in the Orkney Distillery game, so particularly keen to see Watt Whisky’s latest edition from this distillery. This time around we have a vatting of two hogsheads that were matured separately, blended and then put back into their original casks to marry. I.E. a bit of patience in creating an equilibrium better the two vessels.
This edition clocks in at 57.1% ABV and can be purchased from The Whisky Exchange for £58.95.
Nose: Bright and sweet heathery honey and golden syrup alongside brioche and buttered toast. Red apples and cask-driven vanilla sit with an ethereal suggestion of wispy hillside smoke. Reduction adds a breezy character together with crackerbread, straw and flax.
Taste: Tangy apples and white grapes join burnt heather whilst cask char and mentholated oak are tempered by lemon zest and crème patisserie. Water pushes forward the cask with vanilla and touches of cream toffee whilst also broadening the fruit complement by introducing pear slices and clove-studded orange.
Finish: Medium with light floral smoke, touches of salinity and lingering orchard fruits.
Solid, if linear Highland Park that drinks well both at its delivered strength and when reduced. The distillate quality shines through throughout – so you can’t go too far wrong here.