Scotch Review #107 Highland Park Fire Edition 15 Year

Distillery: Highland Park

Region: Island

ABV: 45.2%

Cask Type: ex-Port Casks

Age: 15

Price: Part of a flight

Color: 0.4, Jonquil/Ripe Corn.

Nose: It’s a bit hot. Lots of cinnamon, some chewing gum, and a bunch red licorice (think Twizzlers).

Palate: This one starts a little sweet with some of the sweet port, some malt sweetness, as well as some overripe and super sweet red grapes. After the initial sweetness, there’s a bit of salt water, a bit of balsamic vinegar, and a hint of fresh oak.

Finish: Medium in length. More cinnamon and more Twizzlers.

Conclusion: In fairness to this whisky, I did have it fourth in a flight of five. This immediately followed two phenomenal whiskies so it is likely that my rating of this is heavily influenced by how far away from those two this one is. After having the Ice Edition half of this special series, this one is a real big letdown. While it’s decently made and easy to drink, it’s not really all that fun as it is so straight forward. Cinnamon, licorice, and port. That’s about it. Part of me thinks that if you were to blend Fireball whiskey with some neutral-ish whisky (like Chivas) and then finished it in a port season barrel, you’d basically come up with something like this. If someone does try that, please let me know as I’d love to hear your thoughts. Would I buy a bottle? No.

Final Score: 77.

Scotch Whisky review #107, Island Whisky Review #21, Whisky Network Review #138

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.