Highland Park Mjolner Australian Exclusive Whisky Review!

An Australian-exclusive 14-year old cask strength Highland Park that was 'hand selected for' the Norse-themed Mjolner bars (named after Thor's hammer) in Sydney and Melbourne by the Australian importers. 

A cask strength Highland Park official bottling is a rare thing on this side of the planet. At least until the recently-announced NAS Cask Strength lands in Australia - and it's bottled at a whopping 63%! This one uses the same packaging and design as the Single Cask Series, which is nicely understated compared to most of their core range and limited editions or travel exclusive bottlings - of which there are very, very many. The single cask range tends to be bottled for specific European and American bottle shops, bars and duty-free stores, and they only make the trip down under if someone buys one at auction or imports one privately. But despite that similar packaging it's not a single cask bottling, and there were a relatively large number of bottles released for an Australian exclusive single malt - which can be slow-burners as far as sales go, and this one is still readily available. The Mjolner bars are rustic, meat-heavy Norse- and Viking-inspired bars/restaurants located in Sydney and Melbourne, so it was probably inevitable that they would wind up doing something with Orkney's Viking-obsessed Highland Park. Before you ask, yes they do have a Mjolner hammer, but it's actually a custom-made whisky decanter! I believe it was given to them by Balvenie a few years ago now, but that's still a very cool thing. Since I'm not in Sydney or Melbourne I'm yet to visit either of their venues, but the concept does sound good - it could've easily become overdone, even chintzy or cringeworthy, but from what I've seen they have a more 'authentic' and high-end feel to them. Also, yes it should be spelled Mjolnir, but I'm assuming they've replaced the 'i' with an 'e' to avoid any potential legal issues.   

I've already said plenty about my dislike for most of Highland Park's ladled-on Viking marketing. In my experience so far it actually seems that their less Viking-heavy whiskies - the likes of Full Volume, Dark Origins and some of the age-stated core range - are often the hidden gems of their extensive (overcrowded) arsenal of bottlings. Likewise the two examples of their Single Cask Series that I mentioned above were also quite impressive, although I've seen mixed reports on some of the other examples - but that's both the beauty and the curse of single cask whiskies after all. Thankfully these bottlings are much more simple in their presentation - a simple canvas / jute sacking-type bag, and an understated bottle with small labelling and the bare essentials of the details. Which is great to see, especially on the limited edition bottlings that are properly limited since they could've gone the other way. I do have one complaint though, if you'll indulge me. This bottling, and also those of the Single Cask Series, do not mention chill filtration anywhere. They all appear to be cask strength and most have age statements, most also give cask details, and Highland Park do not use e150a colouring as a rule - although it'd be nice if they'd state that on the packaging & label, too - so this is a rather glaring admission. There have been a few official bottlings that do actually declare that they're non-chill filtered - Dark Origins and the recently announced Cask Strength, for example - so it's not a blanket rule for them to not mention it. The distillery has made plenty of mentions of the fact that they chill filter at higher temperatures (which means less aggressive filtration) than most who still use this practice, but they're still chill filtering the vast majority of their whisky. Whether that still applies to these limited cask strength bottlings or the single cask series I can't say, but you'd certainly hope that it doesn't. 

This particular limited cask strength Highland Park has been matured for 14-years in 'predominantly' European oak sherry casks, plus some American oak sherry casks and refill casks, and 1,731 bottles were released which is quite the number for an Australian exclusive. Many of those will have been allocated to the two Mjolner bars of course, and probably also many of the parent company's other whisky-focussed venues like Eau de Vie and Boilermaker House. It was bottled in mid-2019 at a cask strength of 56.5% ABV, retails for $210-220 AUD which I would say is reasonable, and as mentioned above it's still readily available. This bottling is back to the standard mix of roughly 20% Highland Park's own floor-malted lightly-peated barley and 80% unpeated commercially malted barley sourced from the mainland - which used to come from the Saladin box maltings at Tamdhu, but that won't be the case anymore. The end result is a very light peat influence, particularly with Orkney's famously light, floral and heathery peat. Highland Park has always been a suitable introductory whisky for those who are new to peat, but don't go expecting anything close to Islay or the other peated Hebridean malts. The sample for this review came from a generous mate who decided to take a punt on a bottle. Time to put the hammer down and see if we're worthy, then?

Highland Park Mjolner 14-year old, 56.5%. Orkney, Scotland.

Bottled for Mjolner bar/restaurants, Australian exclusive. Matured in European and American oak sherry casks and refill casks. 1,731 bottles. Unknown chill filtration, assumed natural colour.

Colour: Amber. Darker than the above photo appears. 

Nose: Spiced fruit mince - stone fruit, raisins, red apple, orange peel. Old leather and orange schnapps, very Christmas-y. A little nippy (alcohol nip) if you get too close. Some furniture polish, dark caramel fudge and baking spices - clove in particular and some five-spice. A bit of dried sage too (woody savoury herb). Touch of dried raspberry and heathery smoke in the background. 

Texture: Medium weight, rich & warming, but with some definite aggressive spirit heat to it, heading towards harsh. 

Taste: More leather and dried fruit - more red apple here too. That raw alcohol heat is a shame, it's distracting and is killing off some of the other more subtle flavours. Dark caramel fudge with a touch of honey and boozy plum pudding - before it's set alight. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Vanilla fudge this time, and the drying alcohol heat leaves wood spices and a flash of savoury honey-roasted nuts. Soft, dry peat smoke which is floral and heathery as expected. A touch of almost-rubbery bitterness before the dried fruit, apple, and orange schnapps return. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Undoubtedly would've scored higher without that distracting raw spirit heat. It's hinted at on the nose, but then really shows itself on the palate and overstays its welcome through most of the finish. Yes, this is a cask strength whisky, but it's also 14-years old which is not exactly young, and the 'predominant' first-fill casks should've helped as well. I've tasted whiskies half this age and at higher strength that are far less aggressive. So the nose is certainly the highlight of this Mjolner bottling, but this is still a tasty whisky with some great flavours and plenty of character. It's a darker, slightly "dank" and more aggressive style of Highland Park that I'm not sure I've come across before. This whisky would certainly go well after a Christmas dinner - just have the air conditioning pumping if you're in the southern hemisphere, and a have big glass of water on the side regardless of climate - adding a couple of drops to the dram doesn't have much of an impact either. 

There's decent value for money on offer here too, provided you don't mind a more aggressive whisky with some raw heat to it. If you can get past that, this is a rewarding and tasty dram that shows a different side of Orkney with plenty of punch. I can see it working well during a meat-heavy meal as well, or even in a boilermaker with the accompanying beer helping to cool things down. Which would probably make it ideal for Mjolner, then. 

Cheers!