This is an independent bottling of Highland Park from the island of Orkney by Signatory – through their Un-Chillfiltered Collection. My experience with the Un-Chillfiltered series has been hit and miss. Many have just been plain unimpressive and forgettable. A young Caol Ila comes to mind; I will have to look back through my notes to find which one that was. This HP wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t anything bad.
This HP is 13 y/o. Distilled in 1993 and bottled in 2007 at 46%.
Color: light yellow, gold, champagne;
N: Hints of citrus, lemon?, smoke in the background, brine;
P: fresh, malty, refined, sweet, cinnamon spice notes, no noticeable smoke.
F: watery, the sweetness lingers.
With water: N: brings out the sweetness, loses the smoke and brine.
P: More vibrant and fresh, more malty.
Decent expression of HP. Doesn’t get too far away from the distillery flavors like some Independents do. Definitely clean and refined like an HP should be.