Highland Park 16-Year Twisted Tattoo
46.7% ABV - Orkney Islands, Scotland
Nose: Lighty peated and sweetened by rosé wine, with really inviting fruits like fresh plum, nectarine, and peaches… almost syrupy-sweet but a bit diluted from that. An interesting fresh, earthy-chalkiness. It’s quite a unique combination.
Taste: Seville orange, light peat, dried flowers, and peaches. The aromatics are impressive.
Finish: A slight blast of floral smoke, with lasting fruits and citrus. Only very, very mild smoke—more like wisps of a burning incense.
Funny thing to mention about this bottle purchase… I thought that I had already tasted and really enjoyed this whisky before buying! The stock levels were dwindling in nearby stores—well, I thought they were dwindling and now it’s months later and you can still find it... but I digress, I bought this without having tasted it so that made me a bit nervous when I opened it up, though thankfully it is quite nice! For the price point of ~$135 CAD it’s a really good value. I might choose a bottle from the Val-series (i.e. Valkyrie, Valknut, Valfather) over Twisted Tatoo based on price point, though I’ll have to see what’s available when I’m looking to restock.
And I’m not one to care too much about packaging, but this is a really well-designed bottle! It features a red dragon against the empty backdrop of the black bottle (which unfortunately does make it really hard to see how much whisky is left).
Details: This Highland Park expression is a combination of first-fill Rioja casks in combination with refill casks. Rioja is a wine region in Spain and it is made from a blend of grape varieties, with Tempranillo being the dominant grape.
Tasting Notes (Official): Sweet vanilla; Sun-ripened peaches; Summer berries; Full-bodied red wine; Light peat smoke.
Tasted 07 January 2023. (Posted 01 May 2023.)
