The Malt Cask

  2 more to go with Claxton's Spirits and next up from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is this the oldest release, a 35 year-old Highland Park! It was distilled in 1988, aged in an Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at 43.2%. Distillery:  Highland Park Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  35 years old Distilled:  22/06/1988 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  43.2% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is fruity and creamy, yellow peaches, melon, vanilla cream, some HP heather notes, tame oak spice stewed apples, some milk/white chocolate and pear, honey, hints of cedar wood ! Palate:  The palate is malty and chocolaty first with lots of juicy sultanas, fresh tangerines, some mixed spice, runny caramel, crème brûlée, milk chocolate, black grape juice, blackberry jelly. Some oak spice appea...

For the last review, I tried a youngish (probably) sherried blended malt from Berry Bro's and Rudd. Today, a bit of the same but this time the sherried blended malt is a little old and it's from Chorlton Whisky. This is a bottle which was due to be released for Christmas but ended up being delayed and was finally out a couple of weeks ago. So what is it? First, where is it from? The bottle is produced by Chorlton Whisky a small independent bottler based in south Manchester. David, the owner is keen to present whisky he likes in the best way possible so his single casks bottles are offered at cask strength, in their original colour and without chill-filtration. A pretty good start. Next, the name? Còig Deicheadan means Five Decades in Gaelic so you get where this is heading.  The components? The information available for this bottle give us 4 names for this blended malt: Glenturret, Highland Park, Macallan and Bunnahabhain (looks like an Edrington mix!) T...

New presentation, black bottle, dragon scales embossed on the box and a bit of viking reference with the name, this recently released Dragon Legend did get all of my attention as soon as it hit the shelves. And this bottle is not the only new one to have come out of the Orkney distillery in the last year or so (think Walkyrie, Magnus, Full Volume, Voyage of the Raven, the Keystone series, the Dark, the Light etc. not to mention all the single cask releases that everyone seems to be going mad for!) but definitely one which is readily available in the UK. With a price tag of £40 (or £30 when on offer) it is quite reasonable even if there is no age statement on the bottle. So what is the deal with this Dragon Legend? Surely a pretty hot and spicy dram...! According to the packaging "this bold single malt accentuates the intense aromatic smokiness from [the] local Hobbister Moor peat melded with hints of warm spicy fruit cake which come from a long maturation in sherry seasoned oak...

Highland Park is a distillery located in the Orkney Islands, at the very North-East tip of Scotland, alongside the Scapa distillery. It is a malt that I never really considered at the beginning of my whisky adventure as it seemed to be readily available in supermarkets, often discounted (which to me suggested it wasn't anything special) and final nail in the coffin, the presentation didn't really shout quality in my opinion. After a couple of months investigating the whisky world, reading reviews of various distilleries and bottles, I realised Highland Park very often came out on top in terms of quality single malt for a very affordable price, so decided to wait for the next offer, and when it happened, I bought a bottle. And I haven't been disappointed indeed. The official packaging states the following: "A uniquely smooth, balanced single malt, with a rich full flavour and a gentle smoky finish" and I do fully agree with this statement. Highland Park 12...