Highland Park 18
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Distiller:
Highland Park
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Bottler:
Highland Park
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ABV:
43%
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Age:
18 Years
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Price:
$$$$$
- Raided Score: 94
- Publication: Whisky Advocate
- Excerpt: Superbly balanced on the velvety palate, with brittle toffee, stewed fruits, peat, honey, and a hint of coffee. Smoke and more toffee mingle in the long, elegant finish.
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- Raided Score: 95
- Publication: WhiskyCast
- Excerpt: The finish is smooth, soft, and very long. A rich and smooth classic!
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- Raided Score: 85
- Publication: whiskyfun
- Excerpt: What happened to good old HP 18? It’s still a very good drop, but I think it’s lost its former polish. And maestria. And some younger expressions are way better, I think, which is good for our purses.
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- Raided Score: 99
- Publication: Distiller
- Excerpt: Velvety and indulgent, the whisky finishes on the dry side with mouthwatering acidity.
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- Raided Score: 96
- Publication: Drinkhacker
- Excerpt: My favorite of all the Highland Park bottles, and a veritable bargain compared to many other brands.
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- Raided Score: 92
- Publication: Wine Enthusiast
- Excerpt: The flavor grows more interesting with repeated sips—piquant peaty notes are joined by deep, complex toffee.
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- Raided Score: 88
- Publication: Whiskey Raiders
- Excerpt: Medium and smokier than the palate. Its not hot and the cream and fruits reappear to gently guide it out to sea.
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Raided Score is a conversion from an external site's score, to our in house uniform scoring system. Please see the FAQ for more.
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Intro:
This is an 18 year old release from Highland Park.
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Nose:
Sweet cream and brown sugar with a good dash of grapes and some darker fruit like date fruit. Theres a faint hint of smoke that lingers and blends quite nicely.
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Taste:
Sweet cream and custard. Disappointingly thin mouth feel but its easygoing due to the proof. Lots more grape here with a bit of strawberry jam. The smoke really charges in though and makes a strong showing. Not in a Ardbeg/Laphroaig/Laga kind of way, but a simple campfire and ash smoke that just is. It doesn't dominate or cover up and of the sweets and fruits. I quite like how well it balances and I think this is a strong showing on Highland Parks part - its complex and all of the players are in it for the team. Nothing is clobbering another flavor to be the top dog.
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Finish:
Medium and smokier than the palate. Its not hot and the cream and fruits reappear to gently guide it out to sea.
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Overall:
I like it a good deal. It might have broached closer to an 8 for me if the mouth feel wasn't so thin and the proof was a bit higher, but with all of that in stride - I'd take another glass again. I haven't tried the 15 before, nor any of the special or LE offerings but the 18 has really focused my opinion back on Highland Park.
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Score:
7
- Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources
