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Whisky Review: Highland Park The Light

We review Highland Park The Light, a limited edition 17-year-old single malt aged entirely in ex-bourbon barrels.

OVERALL RATING

9
  • Margarett Waterbury is a whiskey enthusiast and industry expert.
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Tasting Notes

About:

Single malt, 17 years old, aged entirely in ex-bourbon barrels, bottled at 52.9%.
Appearance:
Pale gold
Nose:
Zesty and bright, with sweet apricot, white peach, and melon enlivened by vanilla, lemon peel, and tropical fruits. A muscular vein of high, pure peat emerges alongside a bit of grilled meat and deeply integrated oak. There’s a laser-like focus here, clear and distinct. With water, there’s more smoke, earth, and salinity.
Palate:
Smoky at first, with plenty of char and smolder, before a tart wave in the mid-palate ushers in an unfolding of Riesling-like fruits: apricot, melon, grapefruit, papaya, citrus. There’s a touch of toffee in the long finish, with the smoke and fruit matching each other, step by step, right up to the end. A bit of water enhances the body, making it fuller and sweeter and bringing out a slight funk of blue cheese and durian that I occasionally notice in Highland Park. Despite the relative lightness of this whisky’s flavors, the mouth feel is coating and oily.
Finish:
Comments:
With all my carping, The Light is a great name for this whiskey – it’s bright, lively, and intense, like a laser beam cutting through the fog. I can’t imagine the flavors are truly evocative of spring in Orkney—not many papayas at the 59th parallel!—but this is a very delicious whisky nonetheless.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Margarett Waterbury

Margarett Waterbury is the author of "Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland's Whiskies" and a full-time freelance writer and editor specializing in the beverage industry. Her work has graced the pages of numerous publications, including Whisky Advocate, Food and Wine, Spirited Magazine, Artisan Spirit, Edible Seattle, Sip Northwest, Civil Eats, Travel Oregon, and many others. She also boasts editorial experience as the former managing editor of Edible Portland and as a co-founder and former managing editor of The Whiskey Wash. In recognition of her talent, Margarett received the Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year award in 2017 and was awarded fellowships for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers in 2017 and 2019.

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