Highland Park Viking Heart 15 - 44%
We’ve been crafting our award-winning whisky at the Highland Park Distillery in Kirkwall, Orkney, since 1798. Age, experience and respect for tradition may define our whisky, but it’s Orkney that sets it apart. Something magic happens here and the result is the wild harmony of flavours found in our whisky.
To create 15 Year Old Viking Heart, Gordon Motion, our Master Whisky Maker, selected predominantly sherry seasoned European oak casks to deliver warm, spicy notes and sherry seasoned American oak casks to provide a balance of sweet vanilla. Expertly adding just a few refill casks to soften and smooth the flavours, Gordon chose to bottle at 44% ABV to allow the whisky’s vibrant fruitiness and distinctive heathery peat smoke to shine through.
Appearance: Deep gold, forms a thin line which breaks and falls as thick, oily legs.
Nose: Tropical fruit, soft vanilla, lemon zest, honey and a mild, grassy note.
Palate: Crème brûlée, ripe banana, pineapple upside down cake drizzled with honey, a touch of cinnamon and just a faint glimpse of maritime salt.
Finish: The vanilla and tropical fruit carry through from the palate, together with a gentle waft of peat smoke. The flavours linger for quite a while before slowly being joined by a little pepper right at the close.
Summary: Highland Park and I have a mixed relationship. I’ve been fortunate to try some incredible expressions over the years, however I find some of the core bottlings have a note in the finish which I've yet to pinpoint but find deeply unpleasant. Viking Heart is a whisky which I'm delighted to say doesn't have that problem. Instead it's just a well crafted, quite complex whisky with a delightful mouthfeel and a subtle, smoky finish you don't want to end.
Currently priced at around £80, it's toward the higher end of pricing for official 15 year old bottlings, but if you can get past the Victorian toilet look of the ceramic bottle it's well worth exploring.
If you would like to know more about Highland Park and their whiskies, follow the link to the company website.
Transparency: This sample was part of a 5 dram sample set, purchased from The Spirits Embassy. No goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested for this independent review.
