Bought – Highland Park Distillery, 14th August 2014
Ratings:
82.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2014
89/100 – Malt Maniacs (average from 9 reviews)
When you look at the Whisky Bible rating of 82.5/100 you’d be forgive for thinking this was a good whisky yet nothing special. But the Malt Maniacs score this 21yo 89/100 and they only gave the HP 18yo 88/100, when the Whisky Bible scores it an amazing 95.5/100! Here we have the wonderful world of opinions. Stick 3 whisky drinkers in a room with one bottle to try and you’ll get at least 4 opinions. And if they try the bottle again after a week of letting it breath, opinions will change – some for the better, some for the worse.
In fairness, the rating for this HP 21yo is a little more clear-cut. Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible score of 82.5/100 would have been higher if it weren’t for his sulphur sensitivity. As he says “bad news: a sulphured sherry butt has found its way into this bottling”. When I think how rare it is to see reviews mentioning sulphur, I’m beginning to wonder if Jim Murray’s taste buds no longer reflect those of your typical whisky drinker. After relying on the Whisky Bible for so long, I may start changing my source for reviews to such places like Whiskybase and Malt Maniacs, where ratings are an average from numerous voters, not just a single opinion.
Here’s ‘Malt Reviews’ on You Tube with their thoughts (August 2015):
