Highland Park HPAS 13 year old Single Orkney Malt Whisky 59,1%

The Highland Park Appreciation Society is not a club you wander into by chance. Its members have followed the distillery for years, and in 2016 they were allowed to point at one single cask in the warehouses at Kirkwall. They chose a sherry butt filled in 2003. It gave 576 bottles, and then the cask was empty.

The expert's description

Highland Park HPAS 13 Year Old Single Orkney Malt Whisky 59.1% is a Single Orkney Malt Whisky drawn from one refill sherry butt, cask #2115, bottled undiluted at its cask strength of 59.1%.

HPAS stands for the Highland Park Appreciation Society, the society for the distillery's most committed followers. The bottling belongs to Highland Park's Single Cask Series, where one cask is emptied and sold as it stands, and this particular cask was picked for the society. The spirit went into wood in 2003 and into glass in 2016.

A butt is among the largest casks in Scottish maturation at around 500 litres, and a refill cask has held whisky before. It gives up colour and wood more slowly, so after thirteen years the distillery character still leads, with the dried fruit of sherry framing it rather than covering it. The cask yielded 576 bottles.

Cask strength makes this a dense dram. Everything the wood handed over sits in the glass without a drop of water, and the smoke from Highland Park's own peated malt has far more room than in the core range.

Tasting notes

Nose

Raisins, dark orange marmalade and toasted malt. Below sits a dry, sooty peat smoke and a note of leather. The alcohol prickles for the first few seconds and settles after a couple of minutes in the glass.

Palate

Thick and oily. Dates, dark chocolate and clove, then a clear edge of pepper and a smoke that tastes of hearth ash rather than tar.

Finish

Long and warm. The dried fruit of the sherry hangs on, the spice tightens, and a dry, salty note closes the whole thing.

Specifications

Name: Highland Park HPAS 13 Year Old Single Orkney Malt Whisky 59.1%
Distillery: Highland Park
Region/Country: Orkney, Scotland
Type: Single Orkney Malt Whisky
Age: 13 years
ABV: 59.1%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Refill Sherry Butt #2115
Distilled: 2003
Bottled: 2016
Number of bottles: 576
Edition: Highland Park Appreciation Society

Flavour profile

Smoky · Sherried · Spicy · Powerful

Investment potential

High. The whisky comes from one cask with an outturn of 576 bottles, it was bottled for a closed circle in 2016 and never reached open trade. Single casks from Highland Park at cask strength are among the releases collectors track most closely, and an empty cask cannot be refilled.

Did you know?

The rise the distillery stands on is called High Park, and it is linked to Magnus Eunson, a church officer who by local account distilled illicitly at night and hid his casks beneath the pulpit. A licence for the site came only much later.

See our full range of Highland Park

Listen to our podcast:

Frequently asked questions about Highland Park HPAS 13 Year Old Single Orkney Malt Whisky 59.1%

Who chose the cask for this bottling?

The Highland Park Appreciation Society. The society gathers the distillery's most dedicated followers, and they were given the chance to select one cask from the warehouses, which was then bottled for the membership. Releases of that kind exist only in the quantity the cask holds.

Is it worth investing in?

Yes, on rarity grounds. It comes from a single cask, the outturn is small, and the bottle never went into open trade but to a defined circle. Highland Park, cask strength and a closed society bottling together make it hard to replace once it has been opened or passed on.

What does a refill sherry butt do to the flavour?

It keeps the wood at arm's length. A butt is a large cask, and one that has already held whisky releases colour and tannin more slowly than a first fill. The result is dried fruit and spice without the heavy, dark sherry coating, so the peat and the Orkney character come through clearly.

How does a society bottling differ from the core range?

It is not blended together. The standard expressions are built from many casks so the taste repeats year after year, while this one comes from a single cask and tastes of exactly that cask. In return it cannot be adjusted, and it will not come back.

Should water be added?

Yes, try it. At cask strength the alcohol shuts off part of the aroma, and a few drops at a time open the sherry fruit and sharpen the smoke. Pour it into a tulip-shaped whisky glass and let it sit for ten minutes before the first sip.

What is Highland Park's peat smoke like?

Floral rather than sharp. The peat on Orkney has been pressed together from heather and moss over thousands of years, and the smoke it gives is closer to warm heather than to tar and iodine. In a sherried single cask like this it lies as a dry layer under the dark fruit.

Is it a good gift for a Highland Park collector?

Yes, particularly if the recipient already knows the core range. A society bottling from one cask at cask strength says something entirely different from the vatted expressions, and the label carrying the society name makes it easy to place in a collection.