Review #324 - Highland Park 13 Year Single Cask - Bourbon World Pick
Not common, but not too rare, these Highland Park single cask picks offer another take on the famous distillate. Age stated and high strength, there should be plenty of flavor to go around; they're often identifiable by the burlap-style bags they come in.
Bourbon World is a retail concept based in Indiana, USA - it isn't a store with its own physical locations, but instead, the brand partners with a number of liquor stores to increase the variety of whisky, especially harder-to-find bourbons and ryes. Sort of a specialty 'store within a store,' if you like.
This selection by Bourbon World is a 13 year Highland Park, which was fully matured in a first fill European oak sherry butt. After those 13 years, it still rings in with a strength of 62.1% ABV. Interestingly, though this was dumped from its cask in 2019, it apparently sat waiting to be picked afterwards, as Bourbon World didn't select it until 2021.
Highland Park 13 Year Single Cask - Bourbon World Pick
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 124 (2024)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 150 (2024)
Age Statement: 13 Years
Strength: 62.1% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill European oak sherry butt
Details: Distilled 2006, bottled 2019; cask #1964, 570 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 4 months; bottles at 100%, 80%, and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Dark, spicy, earthy, with loads of red fruit: cherry, strawberry, cranberry, and some darker notes like raisin and juicy prune. Quite a rich nose, and with time, hints of sulphur and an umami side develop; there's cinnamon and some oak, and a soft wisp of smoke lingering in the background. A nice mix of sweet and dry fruit, and at the end, more old oak.
Palate: A thick mouthfeel without a doubt, and it's deep, rich, and packed with flavor like the nose. Grape juice, blood orange, juicy prunes, and sweet cranberry add the fruit side, while syrupy brown sugar and some nutty flavors bring a baked good element. The peat smoke has built up to a medium strength; still, the sherry cask is somewhat dominant. It's quite oily, and more oak develops with time.
Finish: A long finish, juicy and smoky all the way. A mixture of sweet flavors: caramel, grapes, prunes, and spiced Mexican chocolates, and the peat smoke is balancing that sweetness with some drying notes. Old school cask character and some malty flavors arrive, and there are again hints of earthy notes; in the aftertaste, tangy red fruits like cranberry and cherry linger.
Final Note: An absolute flavor bomb, and while it is definitely a cask-dominated whisky, there are still hints of the distillate lingering, mostly in the form of peat smoke and that malt in the finish. There are red fruits and spice galore, and we found a nice old school character in the sherry - not your typical modern sherry cask.
It's still a pricey bottle, and we were lucky to snag one on a discount, but it does provide a huge level of flavor - value is alright, then.
Our Average Rating: 8.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.54
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
