Cadenhead’s Warehouse ‘An Orkney’ 12 year old Single Malt Review

I’ve tasted a number of Orkney’s whisky fare over the years and have managed to review a few Highland Park’s both as official bottlings and unofficial bottlings and it’s fair to say that the unofficial bottlings for the most part have won out.

Highland Park 12 was a dram that helped cement my love for all things peaty when it comes to whisky. The sweet malt, gentle heathery smoke and smatterings of sherry casks help present a welcoming, warming dram…..like a hug from your Granny!

As I’ve progressed through my whisky journey the world of 40% has been pretty much left behind and so the core range of Highland Parks just doesn’t really grab my attention, especially at the price range these days. Thankfully they seem to be steering away from the hideous Viking motif bottles from a few years ago but as we know it’s not the bottle, but the liquid that resides inside that counts. Honestly if they would release their whiskies at 46%, natural colour and non chill filtered, they might win back my custom and it may go some way to make their frankly spicy pricing a little easier to stomach.

Probably the best way to enjoy a Highland Park is on the indie market. These bottles will often be found at cask strength for not much more than an official bottling. The downside is you’re unlikely with modern indie bottlers to find the name ‘Highland Park’ on the label. Instead it’ll be much more probable to find it labelled as a whisky from ‘An Orkney Distillery’. Curse those NDA’s!

So today we have such an indie from the good folk at Cadenhead’s once more. This is a 12 year old that was distilled in 2009, matured in a bourbon hogshead and bottled in 2021 as part of the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting range. It’s 63.5% abv so should take a bit of water. I was sent a sample of this by Dramface’s Hamish Fraser and the bottle cost him £45 at auction.

Let’s Taste.

Nose: Heather honey and lemon curd on buttered white toast. Some salinity and a little minerality. Vanilla fudge, fresh linen, apple boiled sweets and a fresh fruit salad sprinkled with lime zest. A fresh and clean nose. Water brings out more fudge, new leather and praline.

Palate: The abv makes its presence felt. Syrupy sweet on arrival with those apple candies, tinned pineapple and vanilla fudge. Then a good whack of clove and pepper spice hits mid palate. This turns to tart citrus - lemon and lime slices plus a very gentle wisp of smoke. Wet cardboard too. Water brings draff, brown sugar and fresh danish pastries.

Finish: Medium length - sharp citrus, spice and orchard fruits.

Score: 6 out of 10

Overall: A solid and interesting enough Highland Park, much better value than the core releases and a better experience too. It definitely benefitted from water as that high abv led to it being a bit of a tight dram at full strength and the alcohol kind of dominated. The advantage is that you have plenty of wriggle room to find your own sweet spot when adding water.

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