Highland Park ‘Valkyrie’

Bought: The Whisky Exchange, 11^th May 2017

Ratings:
86.82/100 – Whiskybase (average from 64 member votes)

Highland Park have obviously decided it was time for a change and 2017 sees the start of a new design for their label and packaging across their core range and the new ‘Valkyrie’. And I love it! Unfortunately it makes the old bottles look rather plain and dated, like having a modern car sitting beside a Ford Granada. But the old design has been kicking around for about 10 years and was clearly in need of an update. The new look pushes further towards Orkney’s Nordic ancestry, and the nipped-in waist of the bottle suggests many hours in the gym working on those obliques!

The Valkyrie replaces the ‘Dark Origins’ and begins a series of 3 new bottles to appear over the next 3 years. Already the Valkyrie is over 2 points ahead of the Dark Origins on Whiskybase, which is very impressive. Comments for the Valkyrie include, “quite weird HP with heavily peated. I like it. The weakness is the finish.” And “Not a bad HP after all, very mineral with a rather short finish.” But someone on ‘Master of Malt’ says “lingering finish” where the Valkyrie scores 4/5 stars from 6 reviews. On ‘The Whisky Exchange’ it scores 5/5 stars from 6 reviews with comments of “a fantastic rounded dram” and “near perfection”.

Although some reviewers find the Valkyrie underwhelming (especially the finish), the majority are very impressed with this new offering from Highland Park. With 250,000 bottles and a reasonable price tag of £55, it’s a good start for a new series, which will include Valknut and Valhalla in 2018 and 2019.

Tasting notes from ‘Master of Malt’:

Nose: Chocolate and some nutmeg off the bat before the smoke develops, balanced by dried apricot, plum and, increasingly, zesty orange too.
Palate: Plump dried fruits are complimented by vanilla, dried apple and waves of smoke and wood spice.
Finish: Liquorice and more fruit too, plus a return of some chocolatey notes.

Here’s Horst Luening of Whisky.com with his thoughts on YouTube about the Highland Park Valkyrie (June 2017):

Glen Els ‘Ember’

Bought: Whisky Exchange, 18^th March 2015

Ratings:
93/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
85.03/100 – Whiskybase (average from 35 member votes)

Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible, doesn’t have much to say about this German single malt but 93/100 classifies it as “brilliant”. His review reads “bold, rich and proudly idiosyncratic. Really can’t fault it!”

Comments on Whiskybase include “Glen Els is THE German Whisky brand and the distillery with the highest potential in Germany, maybe on whole mainland Europe” and remarks about the taste state “Woodsmoked – this quite unique procedure brings loads of new flavours and spices into this whisky”, “absolutely delicious” and “just a bit of a really nice southern BBQ”.

The woodsmoked element certainly sounds intriguing, and it’s nice to discover a new whisky, and distillery trying something different. With so many whiskies out there, it’s important to have something unique to stand out from the rest. It seems Glen Els have that with their ‘Ember’ offering.

Glen Els Unique Distillery Edition (port casks)

Bought – Online Whisky Auction, 22nd December 2013

Ratings:
85.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2013

If you’re considering buying whiskies in an auction, it sometimes pays to look for the more obscure. I noticed this German single malt wasn’t getting much interest so I did a bit of research before bidding. You can buy an identical miniature bottle on Ebay UK, direct from a German whisky shop, but when you add postage it’s nearly £20! Getting a rating of 85.5/100 in the Whisky Bible classes this malt as “very good to excellent whisky, definitely worth buying!” With its price, rarity in the UK, and rating, I couldn’t believe my luck when I got it for £4.25!  Everyone else in the auction was scrabbling for boring old bottles of Macallan, and vintage malts (which might not be what they claim to be!) so it was nice to get something different at an excellent price.

The name ‘The Glen Els’ is derived from the location of the Hammerschmiede distillery in Elsbach, Zorge, Lower Saxony Harz, about 37 miles south of Brunswick, Germany.