An 18-year-old Highland Park from a single first-fill European oak sherry butt, bottled at 57.3% cask strength for Hong Kong. The label artwork of Hong Kong Island's skyline under The Peak is by local comic artist Li Chi-Tak.
About This Whisky
Distilled in 2003 and bottled in 2022, cask #4089 spent its full 18 years in a first-fill European oak sherry butt. It was bottled at natural cask strength, without chill-filtration or added colour, and yielded 514 bottles.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Sea-salted dark chocolate, sweet currants and muscovado, with camphor and a wisp of floral peat.
- Palate: Dense and oily, with crushed clove, pink peppercorn and heather honey over vanilla cream.
- Finish: Long and warming, with honeyed smoke, dark fruit and oak spice.
Serving & Food
At 57.3% this needs a little water; add it slowly in a Glencairn glass and let the glass sit a moment. Enjoy with Chinese roast goose, dark chocolate with sea salt or a wedge of aged Cheddar.
How to Enjoy
Hong Kong whisky drinkers, and Highland Park fans after a cask-strength sherry bomb with a local story on the label.
Product Details
Distillery: Highland Park
Country: Scotland
Region: Orkney (Islands)
Category: Single malt Scotch whisky
Age: 18 years
Distilled / Bottled: 2003 / 2022
Cask: First-fill European oak sherry butt
Cask Number: #4089
Outturn: 514 bottles
ABV: 57.3% (cask strength)
Edition: Single Cask Series, Hong Kong Skyline
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Every Highland Park single cask is picked by the distillery's Master Whisky Maker, Gordon Motion, who looks after the stock maturing in the Kirkwall warehouses and each year sets aside a handful of casks for bottling on their own. Some are bottled for a particular market or partner, as this Hong Kong edition was.
Sherry-seasoned oak is at the heart of the house style. The distillery uses European and American oak seasoned with sherry, and the casks give natural colour and dried-fruit spice. Refill and first-fill casks are used side by side, and a single first-fill butt like this one sits at the richest end of the house range.