On 11 November 2013 I was one of the lucky ones who had been chosen by The Whisky Wire to join in on a Twitter Tasting to taste The Warrior Series of Highland Park.
This is a range of six single malt whiskies that showcases the very best of Highland Park. Offering a spectrum of flavours, but grounded in Highland Park’s gently smoky, but surprisingly sweet character. We were joined that night by Global Brand Advocate for Highland Park Daryl Haldane to answer all our questions during the tasting. All the action can be found back on Twitter by #HPWarriorTT
The night started with Svein, then Einar, Harald, Sigurd, Ragnvald, and last but not least Thorfinn. Below you can find the links to my tasting notes on these drams.
Highland Park - Sigurd
Highland Park - Ragnvald
Highland Park - Thorfinn
Had some different expressions, official bottlings and independed ones, in the last years from them, and did not fancy them much must honestly say. The Warrior Series is something different from the core line they say, but does reflect the best things of Highland Park. That is what they are telling us. That is what made me so curious, and wanted me to participate in this tasting. To see what is possible there from this distillery. I was not disappointed.
There are some drams among this range for sure that are out of my price range, and that is something that I dislike a bit about Highland Park, the high pricing. For me the content is more important then the packaging. Then there is also the discussion on NAS. Not going into that here, but the bottom line is that I do not agree with it, and find it more a marketing strategy. They have lovely packaging and displays, give them credit for that, but in the end, that does not matter a lot.
But setting all that aside and just focusing on the range, set before us, then it was a cracking line-up, and I loved them! All scores above 7 and higher, so that is a good sign. Especially when coming from an almost dislike for this brand. This throws the door open quite a bit, and lets me start looking again more at the other expressions...
You can see the development in depth and complexity when going from Svein to Harald, en then moving through the 2nd half from Sigurd to Thorfinn. There was an other set of notes to be found there. But through all you could find the chocolate, dried fruit, lingering smoke, and sweetness. The pie-chart below shows how the maturation and the expressions are set out.
Thanks Highland Park, Steve and Daryl for the great night out with these Vikings! They have swept me away a bit, and taken me on a new path...
Highland Park - Ragnvald
Highland Park - Thorfinn
Last year, when on holiday in Scotland we were thinking of driving up north to the Highland Park Distillery. It was sadly a boat ride to far at that time, and we did not get to Orkney that year. But we surely will do so some day, and visit this distillery.
Had some different expressions, official bottlings and independed ones, in the last years from them, and did not fancy them much must honestly say. The Warrior Series is something different from the core line they say, but does reflect the best things of Highland Park. That is what they are telling us. That is what made me so curious, and wanted me to participate in this tasting. To see what is possible there from this distillery. I was not disappointed.
There are some drams among this range for sure that are out of my price range, and that is something that I dislike a bit about Highland Park, the high pricing. For me the content is more important then the packaging. Then there is also the discussion on NAS. Not going into that here, but the bottom line is that I do not agree with it, and find it more a marketing strategy. They have lovely packaging and displays, give them credit for that, but in the end, that does not matter a lot.
But setting all that aside and just focusing on the range, set before us, then it was a cracking line-up, and I loved them! All scores above 7 and higher, so that is a good sign. Especially when coming from an almost dislike for this brand. This throws the door open quite a bit, and lets me start looking again more at the other expressions...
You can see the development in depth and complexity when going from Svein to Harald, en then moving through the 2nd half from Sigurd to Thorfinn. There was an other set of notes to be found there. But through all you could find the chocolate, dried fruit, lingering smoke, and sweetness. The pie-chart below shows how the maturation and the expressions are set out.
Thanks Highland Park, Steve and Daryl for the great night out with these Vikings! They have swept me away a bit, and taken me on a new path...
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