Founded in 1798, Highland Park is a distillery with a deep history and even deeper web site. While we’ll get to the scotch in a few moments, it is worth noting that the Highland Park web site is a virtual encyclopedia. The presentation is pretty good, but the information contained within is off the charts. The level of detail they go in to about their history, region and process is quite extensive. They also have one of the best tasting and nosing guides that I’ve seen.

It seems like for every review I write, there is a distillery that touts something as their claim to fame and Highland Park is no different. Spend as little as two minutes on their web site of exceptional verbosity and you’ll run across the claim that they are “one of only a handful of distilleries where the expensive and physically demanding custom of turning malt by hand still takes place.” I’m not real certain about the significance of this fact, but figured if they went to the trouble of making the claim over and over again, some of you might have an opinion on the matter.

Color
As for the scotch itself, my immediate impression of the Highland Park 12y was that the packaging is very striking, but the color is quite pale. The distiller notes the color as “Glowing Amber”, but I would have to disagree on that one as I felt it looked a little bit more like “Light Beer”.

Nose
My guard went up with the color, but quickly came down with the nose. It has a decidedly earthy, peaty aroma, but had just the right touch of sweetness to suggest a reasonably balanced palate.

Palate
The nose didn’t fail me on this one as the palate confirmed my suspicions that this single malt would have a fairly smokey flavor with only a touch of fruity sweetness. The palate is quite smooth and easy though and I was a little surprised. I expected it to taste stronger and a bit harsher than than it did.

Finish
The finish isn’t particularly long, but this is where the sweetness finally starts to gets equal time with the peat and smoke.

Highland Park 12y is a pretty good single malt, but not one that has left much of an impression on me. It simply doesn’t fit my preferences. That being said, the one thing I do like about this scotch is that this is a very accessible single malt that favors the peat and smoke over the fruit and honey. Most single malts that fit that flavor profile tend to be strong and a bit much for casual whisky drinkers. This makes the Highland Park 12y a very good introductory scotch for someone drawn to more earthy single malts. While I haven’t tried any of the other Highland Park varieties, I would imagine that the 12yr is the perfect “starter scotch” for their line of products.

After reading some other reviews of this scotch, I noticed that many other sites mention that this is a good scotch for making mixed drinks. Personally, scotch is the last spirit I look to when making mixed drinks, but I can definitely see where this would be a better choice than an Oban or Balvenie. Something to keep in mind.

Most of the single malts I have reviewed on the site, to date, have come from the Speyside region of Scotland and the Oban is my first from the west coast of Scotland. The distillery is located smack dab in the middle of the coastal resort community of Oban; called the “Gateway to the Isles”. While officially considered a “Highland” variety; Oban, much like the town is more of a “Gateway to Islay Malts”. It is in essence a well balanced blend between the Speyside and Islay varietals of single malt scotch.

I still remember going through the most convoluted, unscientific selection process nearly ten years ago when I selected my first bottle of single malt scotch. I was immediately drawn to the simple, historic feeling of the packaging. It was clean, simple, and just had that look of “We’ve been doing this a while and we know what the hell we’re doing.” When I read that the malt master was a MacDougall (My Mother’s maiden name) I took it as a sign and put my $55.00 down on the table. When I pulled the bottle out of the tube, I was stunned by the beauty of the golden liquid inside and that color has since been my benchmark fro what a good single malt should look like. It is unfair, I know, but such is life.

This is one complex single malt with a lot of things going on at once. The nose is fragrant and sweet, but it is also telling you to look for smoke coming from the bottle. That there will be two sides to every story your senses will tell throughout the tasting. The body is full and substantial, but it is quite smooth and rich. The palate is warming and the overall taste is substantially more malty and smoky than the other single malts I have reviewed (except the Ardmore perhaps). The finish, on the other hand, is fruity, smooth, and quite long. In fact, it is without a doubt my favorite part.

The Oban 14 Y.O is still my favortite single malt, but I will say it isn’t quite as legendary as my memory had built it up to be. Still it is a mighty fine scotch and one I would recommend to just about anyone.

The Ardmore distillery, in Aberdeenshire, has been producing whisky since 1898 and they pride themselves on doing things the old fashioned way. Ardmore has one of the best web sites for a distillery on the Net. While it is a little heavy on the flash, they have a wealth of information including great video tours. I definitely recommend checking it out. The information to be gained is well worth the time.

The Ardmore Traditional Cask is ‘fully’ peated whisky and matured twice. The first maturation uses American oak, used bourbon casks and the second maturation uses old school quarter casks designed to give it a more traditional single malt flavor. According to Ardmore, this is the only scotch whisky that is fully peated and has been since its creation, more than one hundred years ago.

This whisky has a light amber color that is a touch more yellow than gold. The aroma has a slightly fruity smell, but the strength (92 proof) is quite detectable with the nose alone. This particular single-malt is a bit too much for me ‘neat’ and I highly recommend you serve it on the rocks or with a dash of water. Fortunately, you can always claim that you’re adding water for the taste, because a little bit of water really does open up the flavor significantly. Ardmore’s claims about the amount of peating done with this particular single malt is backed up 100% as soon this scotch passes your lips. The predominant flavors in this whisky is smoke and peat with a touch of vanilla. I found the smokiness and peat overtones a bit overpowering at first and it took a little getting used to. The finish was long and warming, but not unpleasantly so.

I have never been a big fan of really smoky single malts, but I know that there are a lot of you out there that love them. If you like your single malts nice and smoky, than the Ardmore Highland Single Malt Traditional Cask is definitely something you should try; that is, if you can find it.

On a recent family vacation to picturesque North Conway, NH, I stopped in to a local liquor store and set about finding a reasonably priced single malt to enjoy in the clean mountain air of northern New Hampshire. While perusing their rather limited selection, I came across a rather distinctive tube titled “Glennfiddich Solera Reserve Single Malt” for $36.00. I had my next bottle of scotch.

The Glenfiddich Distillery is located in the Speyside region of northeastern Scotland, a region well known for quality single malts due in large part to the success of Glenlivet, Balvenie, and of course Glenfiddich. Founded in 1876 by William Grant, Glenfiddich is the flagship whisky for William Grant & Sons who also own another personal favorite of mine, The Balvenie Distillery.

As I mentioned earlier, the packaging of the Solera Reserve was quite distinctive. The bottle is all Glenfiddich with its triangular shape, embossed seal on the neck and a colorful burgundy and gold label. The label features the traditional Glenfiddich logo with golden stag behind the brand name. Normally, I’d deduct points (metaphorically speaking) for the plastic domed, cork stopper, but it does improve the overall look of the bottle.

The “Solera Reserve” line from Glenfiddich is a little different than your standard single malt, in fact it would be more accurate to call it a “blended single malt”. While that may sound like an oxymoron, it technically isn’t. A “Blended Whisky” is a combination of malt whisky (barley only) AND grain whisky (wheat or corn) to smooth out the malt whisky and create a less complex, less harsh whisky. In this case, Glenfiddich is combining multiple batches of malt whisky from a variety of casks to create a “vatted” whisky. Some of the whisky is aged for fifteen years in: traditional American bourbon, Spanish sherry, and new oak casks and then combined in a large solera vat made of pine.

The interesting thing about using soleras to age any spirit is that it is always kept half full. This makes it difficult to establish the actual age of the liquid that goes in to the bottle, but if the process is well controlled, as I suspect Glenfiddich’s is, a minimum age can be established. As whisky is moved into the solera after a set number of years of cask aging than you can readily state that the whisky is a minimum of ‘X’ years old. Reality, however, may put the average age of the whisky inside the solera at eighteen or twenty years old. It is a truly fascinating approach, but does it really make a difference?

Color

The color is a little lighter than some of the other scotches I have reviewed recently, but not by much. Instead of a deep amber hue, the shade is a little closer to gold.

Nose

The nose of this particular whisky is fantastic with overtones of vanilla and honey and a bit of spice and fruit.

Taste

This scotch is smooth, really smooth. It has a soft, creamy flavor that is mild and accessible. I can’t say that I could pick out flavors indicative of one cask or another, just that it seems well balanced without any one cask running roughshod over the others.

Finish

The finish brings out a little more of the cask flavors with the sherry adding a little sweetness and the oak adding that woody dryness you find in most traditional single malts. It is quite pleasant.

Summary

Glenfiddich Solera Reserve may have just knocked off The Balvenie DoubleWood as the most accessible scotch I have reviewed to date. It is smooth, has a good mild flavor, and quite drinkable. At a price under $40.00, its a good starter scotch for someone taking their first few steps in to the wonderful world of single malts.

Personal Note

I learned an awful lot about whisky while researching the methods and practices used to create this whisky and the knowledge gained from this one review far outweighs the enjoyment of the spirit contained within the bottle. While this particular post was rather long and full of information NOT related specifically to how this bottle of scotch tastes, smells, or looks; it is for this very reason that I started OakandSmoke.com in the first place. To chronicle the journey from complete novice to who knows where. I only hope that you feel like you’ve learned something too.

Another thing I discovered while conducting research for this article is that I have been pronouncing the name “Glenfiddich” incorrectly for years. The final syllable (ich) is not pronounced like “itch”, but “ick”. It has a hard ch as in the Scottish loch. Thanks to Wikipedia, I’ll actually sound like I know what I’m talking about now.

The Dalmore Distillery was established in 1839 by a man named Alexander Matheson and is located in Alness, Scotland. Unfortunately, their web site is currently going through an update and their Wikipedia page is a little short on details. The distillery is located in northern Scotland and thus the moniker “Single Highland Malt”. The packaging is quite simple with a 750ml bottle adorned by the signature 12 point buck on the bottle and traditional style label.

The Dalmore Single Highland Malt has a marvelous, rich amber hue that you can only hope tastes as good as it looks. The aroma is quite strong and actually belies its taste. Stick your nose in a bell shaped glass and your eyes might actually water up before the scotch hits your lips. That being said, the taste is quite pleasant with subtle undertones of vanilla and caramel. It is a fairly strong whisky and the taste improves significantly with water. I strongly recommend trying it straight up for full effect the first time around and add a generous portion of water for the second go of it. You’ll find that the flavor becomes easier to discern. The finish is long and warming and you can almost feel the heat spreading throughout your body.

The Dalmore 12 Year Old Single Highland Malt is a bit of a paradox. While the aroma and feel are quite intense the flavor and finish are quite smooth and subtle. This is your quintessential Scotch whisky and should appeal to just about anyone who likes a good single malt. To sweeten the deal even further, a bottle of Dalmore 12 year old scotch will run you about $35.00. This makes it the perfect single malt for those of us who like to drink, but don’t like to pay for it.

This past Christmas, my wonderful wife bought me a bottle of Balvenie DoubleWood. DoubleWood is a 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky that is matured in two distinct casks throughout the life of its maturation process. It starts its journey from malt to whisky in a traditional American oak bourbon whisky cask and is then transferred to a Spanish oak cask that has been previously used to age sherry. The traditional whisky cask makes sure the DoubleWood grows up to be a fine, upstanding Scotch, while the sherry cask acts as a finishing school designed to add depth and character.

The Balvenie Distillery of Banffshire, Scotland has been owned and operated by the same family since its founding in 1892. They pride themselves on being the last distillery in the Scottish Highlands to grow their own barley, use traditional floor maltings, and maintains their own coopers and coppersmiths. The company steeps itself in its heritage and that is never more apparent than when you visit their unique and informative web site at www.thebalvenie.com.

Balvenie gets some serious extra credit for including a fantastic pamphlet from the malt master. It briefly touches on the history of the distillery, the Scotches they produce, as well as a great primer on nosing and tasting. If there is a reason why this review will be of higher quality than any of my future reviews, this pamphlet is the key. I resisted the urge to read too much of the pamphlet before I started tasting, but it was extremely valuable in filling in the blanks.

At first glance, DoubleWood has a very pleasant amber hue that is rich and deep, but not too dark. There is no denying the uniqueness of Balvenie DoubleWood the minute you take a nice long whiff. The aroma is noticeably sweet and fruity and there is a slight hint of vanilla and honey. This Scotch is smooth and sweet with a lot of different flavors going on all at once. Right off the bat, your hit with a taste that is both nutty and spicy, without it being too sharp or punchy. The finish is warm and long enough to let you down nice and easy.

Balvenie DoubleWood is probably the most accessible Scotch I’ve ever had, and that doesn’t mean its weak. Balvenie DoubleWood is a nice change of pace from your traditional single malt.