Scotch Review #106: Highland Park Ice Edition 17 Year

Distillery: Highland Park

Region: Island

ABV: 53.9%

Cask Type: First Fill ex-Bourbon casks

Age: 17

Price: Part of a flight

Color: 0.4, Jonquil/Ripe Corn.

Nose: Lots of really fresh and cool tones. There’s fresh mint, fresh thyme, some star anise, and freshly ground white pepper.

Palate: More of those very fresh and cool tones continue here. You get a bit of licorice, some menthol, fresh linen, fresh mint, freshly cut grass, and a bit of lemon grass as well. There’s a bit of cereal sweetness in here, perhaps a bit from the bourbon casks.

Finish: Medium in length. More of the fresh mint, star anise, freshly ground white pepper, and a little bit of young oak. It left my mouth almost feeling like I had just gargled.

Conclusion: This dram is a bit of a trip. Despite having it neat, it just feels so cool throughout due to those cooling and fresh notes. There’s a lot of aromatic herbs and spices all throughout with mint being the main player. The only thing even remotely like this I’ve had is Mackmyra’s 10 Year offering but even that one was not filled with this many refreshing notes. It’s definitely not a bottle I’d reach for often if I had one but one that absolutely would hit the spot when you’re in the mood for a refreshing dram. Would I buy a bottle? Not for the current going rate of $300.

Final Score: 82.

Scotch Whisky review #106, Island Whisky Review #20, Whisky Network Review #137

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.