Orkney (Highland Park) 16 Year Old "Rites of Passage" 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead Cask Strength Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)
Review Date: 04/2023
Flavors as golden as the pure gold color. Sweet orange marmalade, tart lemon bars dusted in powdered sugar, and a gentle wafting heather smoke mark this wonderful cask. At nearly 60% ABV it is full flavored and powerful yet remarkably restrained. With a dollop of water the smoke really comes forward and the profile mellows into a summertime sipper. I am craving this by the pool in a highball on a sunny day. It feels like a garden party on a crisp spring day combined with the delights of a stonefruit orchard in late summer. Roasted malt and succulent peaches, nectarines, and plums are bright and clear. Modern HP can be a bit of a chameleon and here we have the lighter profile of this special distillery showing off it's colorful plumage. The cask influence is more wine driven than the other sherry casks in the Rites of Passage lineup, distinctly a different feel on sherry, but magic whisky nonetheless.
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Notes
Disitlled July 21st, 2006 and aged in a refill cask until 2018 when it was reracked into a first fill Oloroso sherry hogshead. Bottled 9/22/22. 287 bottles produced and just a fraction of that available in California. Bottled at a cask strength of 59.3% ABV and without chill filtration or added color. There is no shortage of Orkney on the Independent market these days. Nearly always sold without the accompanny Highland Park name, it is a terribly kept secret where these casks are coming from. The reacking into first fill sherry here really sets this one apart. A beautiful amber in color it's not nearly as powerful a cask as we see on Rites of Passage's other sherry releases, but in this case, that is actually a great thing. The cask was perfectly matched to the spirit. It doesn't cover up that delicate honey and heather note and gentle smoke of modern HP, it just frames it all perfectly.
Product Details
Origin: Orkney, Islands Other - Scotland, Scotland
Type/Varietal: Malt
Alcohol Content: 59.3%
SKU: #1671755