If nothing else, Highland Park knows how to market. I am very into Nordic things, so the new Viking aesthetic they have going on appeals to me, and it would definitely be more likely to grab the average consumer’s eye. Despite some of the bottlings they have being out of my price range, and me knowing it is just in the appearance, I still want them at least to have the empties to display (or use to house personal blends if it came to it). Fortunately, we have eBay where I can get my hands on them if I decide to go down that road. More importantly, though, I didn’t have much experience with what comes inside the bottles and wanted to give myself some familiarity to decide how much more I want to explore offerings from this distillery. I decided to review the three releases in their Viking Legend series since I think it will be manageable to try all in that range and give me a feel for what this distillery has to offer, and some cursory research showed the general profile of the expression is more in line with my preferences than their core range, namely peat.
Highland Park Valkyrie, Island (Orkney) Single Malt, 45.9% ABV
Minutia: Matured in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. Peated malt. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn, rested about 10-15 minutes.
Color: Gold, much darker than I expected for a naturally colored NAS expression.
Nose: Light floral smoke, sliced green apple.
Taste: Rich, peppery, orange zest, snus.
Finish: Short outlook but came back and finished strong. Smoky, spicy malt.
While less peated than I typically like, there was enough there for me to feel comfortable and appreciate what isn’t peat. I got a vague Bunnahabhain sense from this, but with a much more substantial smokiness, obviously. The way I see people enjoying Valknut more than this, I’m really going to enjoy that bottle.
Score: 84
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