Highland Park 9 Year (SMWS 4.274 "Rock Solid Dramming Pleasure")

 

This bottle is a peated single cask expression from Highland Park, it is bottled at a very very strong 63.0% ABV, and has a rather unusual casking story. Nicknamed "Rock Solid Dramming Pleasure." I'll let the official SMWS tasting notes explain:

At six years of age, we combined selected casks from this distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks. The nose delivered lovely light smoke and brine – wooden-decked yachts moored at the pier, honey-drizzled pears, rice paper on nougat and bacon and rosemary cooked over charcoal. The palate had boiled sweets and honey, smoked sea-salt, tarry driftwood and leather in an Arbroath smoke hut. The reduced nose had cinnamon and pepper, lemon and pine, polished shoes, seashells and harbour-side creels. The palate was now rich, honeyed and mouth-coating, with wood-smoke and ice-cream from a sea-side van. The finish had aniseed gobstoppers, cumin and tar.

Sounds good to me! Let see how this serendipitous bottle tastes...

Nose: Briny, alright. Brine, smoke, a little oak, savory overtones, and pear. Quite nice! With some water, it adds a little more sugar/sweetness - as so often happens with reduction. Some citrus too - I can see the lemon from the official notes, but I would actually place it a bit closer to lime, which I find more complex. There is a salty mineral quality that runs through the nose - if this wasn't peated, it would definitely fall under the Oily and Coastal flavor group.

Mouthfeel: Medium, viscous. Thick legs on the glass.

Palate: Very nice. Vanilla, honey, salt, oak, leather - exactly as the official notes have. It's strong stuff - I recommend water. With water the palate gets ever sweeter, with rich drops of honey, smoke, and vanilla pods. Some spice, too - cinnamon? Quite nice. 

Finish: Smoke, baking spices, pepper, minerals, oak. Medium length, thanks mostly to the ethereal smoke that stretches it all out. 

Verdict: Another independent bottling victory for Highland Park. This distillery really shines (much like Caol Ila) in the hands of single cask bottlers like SMWS. I'm not quite sure what the story is behind the curious vatting and recasking, but the ultimate product is worthy. Recommended.