Beware: Highland Park's New Scotch Is Really Strong

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One of the highest alcohol examples in the Scotch whisky category and one of the best new cask strength whiskies to try, Highland Park Cask Strength Release No. 5 is, as its name suggests, the fifth product in this long-established distillery’s cask strength single malt whisky series.

Cask Strength No. 5 is bold but delicious, bottled at a whopping 64.7% ABV. That’s almost 130 proof, so it’s a very strong whiskey, similar to Elijah Craig’s Barrel Proof releases of the past few years. And yet, this single malt is still entirely approachable, especially if you add a few drops of water to open up the palate and bring the ABV down a bit—or not, it’s entirely up to you.

According to the brand, Cask Strength No. 5 was matured mostly in first-fill European oak sherry casks, as well as some refill casks, bourbon casks and sherry casks.

“With each Cask Strength release, I look for something unique that will deliver a different flavor characteristic,” Highland Park master whiskey maker Gordon Motion said in a statement. “For Highland Park Cask Strength No. 5, I chose to include rarely filled Pedro Ximénez casks. The sweet, dark, dessert sherry wine matured in these casks helps deliver spicy, sun-dried fruit and clove notes to the final whiskey.”

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There is no age statement, but maturation in this combination of casks, particularly casks heavily flavoured with sherry, gives the whisky a rich range of flavours including vanilla, raisin, dark chocolate, espresso, baking spice and a hint of citrus and menthol on the finish.

All Highland Park whiskies are peated, but not as heavily as you’ll find at distilleries on Islay like Laphroaig or Lagavulin, and they’re bottled with natural colours, which allows the casks to influence the colour of the whisky, as opposed to the caramel colouring commonly used.

Highland Park Cask Strength No. 5 is currently available nationwide for $100 per bottle, depending on market. Try this side by side with some lower ABV age statement expressions to see how the whiskey compares without any dilution.

Related: We Tasted Hundreds of Scotch Whiskies. These 16 Bottles Are the Best of 2024

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