Disappointed with HP 18

[Rory B Bellows]

I have always been a fan of Highland Park 12 year-old, but had been reluctant to purchase the 18, since it's double the price of the 12 around here, which makes it costlier than most of my favourites. In a recent trip to Mexico, I had the opportunity of picking up a bottle of HP 18 for $60 USD, and, of course, I jumped on it.

All I've heard for the last five years is how amazing this whisky is, but after having about five glasses in the last week, my verdict is that this is a good dram, but not great. There isn't anything terribly wrong with it, but I think that rather than building on the HP 12 characteristic mouthfeel, length and warmth, it comes off a little thin, short, and dead.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[Lawrence]

Hi again, what type of glass are you using?

[peergynt323]

When I was younger in my whisky tasting career, I was also disappointed with the 18yo because it seemed too busy, musty and unfocused to me. It has a learning curve. You will learn to appreciate it.

[Rory B Bellows]

Lawrence: I'm using a Ravenscroft scotch tumbler, which is a tulip-shaped, wide-based glass, similar to the Maison du Whisky Glass (see Malt Maniacs glass study).

peergynt323: That's exactly what I'm hoping for: that I'll learn to appreciate it. I think I'll leave it on the shelf for a few months.

Come to think of it, I recall getting off on the wrong foot with Ardbeg Ten a few years ago, but now we're the best of friends...

[Deactivated Member]

Has anyone else experienced this?

No!

Sometimes anticipation leads to letdown. There are drams I absolutely love--HP25 springs to mind--that I'm very wary of talking up, because they aren't the type of dram that shouts how great they are. I'd say relax, forget what you've heard, and just enjoy it; possibly it will dawn on you just how much you do like it. And don't forget to warm it up a bit in your hand.

Now can someone explain to me why we have so many members from the GTA here? Nevermind, always room for more. Welcome, Rory.

[Rory B Bellows]

MrTattieHeid: There are "so many members from the GTA here", because our malt selections at the LCBO are so limited that we have to ask people from other countries what most bottlings taste like .

Speaking of which, where the hell is that Airigh Nam Beist?

[Elagabalus]

I agree. The LCBO sucks ass. I want to try to get a bottle of Balvenie 1991 Portwood and they only have one bottle in the whole province. I have to travel by car for an hour and a half from Oshawa to Missisauga to pick it up. To hell with that though.



Welcome fellow Ontarian!!!

Oh and don't forget to consider http://www.spiritoftoronto.ca

[Wendy]

I agree. The LCBO sucks ass. I want to try to get a bottle of Balvenie 1991 Portwood and they only have one bottle in the whole province. I have to travel by car for an hour and a half from Oshawa to Missisauga to pick it up. To hell with that though.



Welcome fellow Ontarian!!!

Oh and don't forget to consider http://www.spiritoftoronto.ca

Elagabalus,
Check with your neighbourhood LCBO and ask if they will handle an inter store transfer which will save you a trip.
Cheers,
Wendy

[Wendy]

Hi Rory,
Welcome to the forum. Generally speaking, I am a fan of HP. And, coincidentally, yesterday and today, my end of the day dram is HP 18 which I really enjoy.

On my recent trip to BC, I recently had a head to head sampling of two HP 18's. One of the bottles was in the old packaging and the other in the new. The older packaged one was quite lovely and the other was hot and firey...like it had been "cooked" too long. "Unfortunately" (and I use that lightly for the circumstances), I didn't get the chance to write the bottling details; it was more of a dramatic contrast of one dram lined up against the other. To complicate matters, the bottling I have at home arrived in the new packaging and is a HP 18 yo beauty. Go Figure! So, the long and short of it, is not to give up on HP 18 quite yet.

Take care,
Wendy

[Lawrence]

Well said Wendy, the HP 18 has always been a stellar dram, I will be very dispappointed if it has changed for the worse with the introduction of the new packaging.

Rory, change your ways! That's not the correct glass. Look for a another glass test on MM in the near future.

[Deactivated Member]

Is this the glass you're using?



Seems reasonably appropriate to me, Lawrence.

[Lawrence]

He said 'tumbler' Mr T, ;

http://www.on-the-fly.com/media/images/products/medium/WS/WSRCDISTSCH_1136f.jpg

...not snifter. I cannot seem to make the image work, sorry for the link in place of.

[Deactivated Member]

This one, then? Still seems appropriate. Not what we think of when we say tumbler, normally. Actually, I'd like one of these.

[Lawrence]

Well next time you dine at your local restaurant with the red and white checkered table cloths dig out the candle from the glass and you'll have much the same thing.

As for being able to produce images at will, like magic, well, it's just showing off.

[EdipisReks]

i have found much more variation with the HP-18 than the 12yo. when the 18yo is on, it's fantastic. when it's not, it's merely very good.

[Elagabalus]

Mr T what kind of glass is the one in your post? Where can I order one of those.

Also, what is the general consensus on Highland Park 15? The LCBO offers 12, 15, and 18. ANyone have any thoughts on the 15?

I just love that shock face lol


Oh and thanks Wendy I will see what they can do for me.

[Deactivated Member]

Mr T what kind of glass is the one in your post? Where can I order one of those.

I just googled Ravenscroft, E, which is what Rory mentioned. You can, too! Perhaps Rory will let you know where he got them. Maybe you'll have to go to Oakville. Stay off the DVP!

Edit: Actually, I found the latter one by following Lawrence's link.

[Rory B Bellows]

I got the Ravenscroft scotch glasses in a set of four from my girlfriend at Christmas. She bought them from an online store based in the US. The link is http://www.winestuff.com/acatalog/Ravenscroft_Distiller_Collection.html.

[jimidrammer]

A 12oz. glass! What a dram. My pours would barely cover the bottom. But then again I pour a variety of drams per night, too. $54 for a set of four isn't bad for a quality glass. I've just got so many Glencairns...

[Deactivated Member]

A 12oz. glass! What a dram. My pours would barely cover the bottom.

And one should always be sure to cover one's bottom. Ideal for nosing (the whisky!), anyway. My only concern would be the thickness of the base, affecting handwarmability. Otherwise, it's a very attractive glass, indeed.

[Elagabalus]

No no I am talking about the glass with the stem, the first glass you pasted. It that a riedel cognac glass?

[Deactivated Member]

They're both Ravenscroft.

[Rory B Bellows]

jimidrammer: I felt that the main flaw in the glass was its 12oz size as well. I would much prefer to be about 6-8oz. But my girlfriend chose them without any help from me, so I think she did very well with zero knowledge of single malts.

[Elagabalus]

Rory you might like the Riedel Vinum Single Malt Glass.

http://www.winestuff.com/acatalog/Riede ... Malt_.html

7oz too

[vitara7]

stick to the 12yo, lot cheaper than the 18yo, better of with what you know and like.

[Rory B Bellows]

Elagabalus: I've read very negative reviews of the Riedel glass, so I've avoided it. Apparently the shape is useless for nosing.

[lbacha]

I just got 6 glasses from Schott Zwiesel:

Schott Zwiesel Top Ten Barrel Aged Spirits Set of 6

The Top Ten Sommelier Collection by Schott Zwiesel is the result of careful analysis of form, function and the taste characteristics of the most important wines. But even before we drink out of these glasses, they delight our senses: the eyes due to their brillant transparency and aesthetically pleasing forms, the mouth due to the careful shaping of the rim to the lips, the hand due to the slender design and perfect feel of the glass, and the ears due to pure sound of the crystal. Top Ten is machine made in Germany from Tritan® titanium crystal that is highly resilient to dishwashers, accidental breakage and chipping.

After long years of intensive research and development, in collaboration with the University of Erlangen, Schott Zwiesel has succeeded in creating a new type of crystal glass. The use of unique ingredients combined with an advanced manufacturing process, has created an incredibly pure, hard and clear crystal glass. A crystal glass that is highly resilient to dishwashers, accidental breakage and chipping. Tritan® is a unique, patented crystal glass that sets new standards




They seem to be very nice glasses and since I only paid $10.00 for 6 of them I couldn't pass them up.

Len

[lbacha]

As far as the HP 18 is concerned give it another chance it is a great dram, I really do hope Wendy was wrong when she said the new bottling was hot and Fiery it would be a shame to change such a good dram.

Len

[Deactivated Member]

As far as the HP 18 is concerned give it another chance it is a great dram, I really do hope Wendy was wrong when she said the new bottling was hot and Fiery it would be a shame to change such a good dram.

Len

That's not quite what she said; she said she'd had one sample in the new packaging that was hot and fiery, and another that was a beauty. That seems odd to me, as I would doubt there would have been more than one vatting already, but I could be wrong. (It has been known to happen!) HP have taken great pains to state that there has been no change in the whisky, just the packaging. In any case, the consensus seems to be that for some reason there is some variability, and one ought not let a duff bottle put one permanently off a dram that is very high on many people's lists.

[Elagabalus]

No the riedel glass was made exactly to capture the bouquet of the scotch. The problem with riedel is many people grab the glass as though it's a woman 's ass and invariably they break it.

[Deactivated Member]

How ironic...in the other instance, it's usually the hand that gets broken.

E, there are ladies present. Be nice.

[Elagabalus]

Oh jeeze, I knew after I made that comment Mr T was gonna come and rip into me about the ladies. Please Mr T, scotch and cigars are one of the few hobbies/clubs left that men predominate. I think it's perfectly acceptable to speak about grabbing a woman's ass in an offhand way in such clubs. What's more I hardly think any of the women here would be THAT offended hearing a young gentleman mention grabbing a woman's rear end. Unless of course the Queen of England is here.

Mr T, why don't you be nice and remember there are ladies here and that's why a nice laddie like me is here.

[Scotchio]

Oh jeeze, I knew after I made that comment Mr T was gonna come and rip into me about the ladies. Please Mr T, scotch and cigars are one of the few hobbies/clubs left that men predominate. I think it's perfectly acceptable to speak about grabbing a woman's ass in an offhand way in such clubs. What's more I hardly think any of the women here would be THAT offended hearing a young gentleman mention grabbing a woman's rear end. Unless of course the Queen of England is here.

Mr T, why don't you be nice and remember there are ladies here and that's why a nice laddie like me is here.

Actually the queen is not averse to such things so long as you follow the correct etiquette
nb it's a thin line between likeable playfulness and lechery,and it rarely stays in the same place. Perhaps we should ask the ladies whether they welcome such comments or find them insulting. It would be awfully bad form to deter women from getting involved with something as great as whisky or this forum by pushing the idea that it is some prehistoric gentlemens club.

[Elagabalus]

Well I am more than willing to hear whether or not wendy or any of the other women (all 3 or 4 of them) recoiled in horror and disgust by my grotesque and insensitive comments.

I would apologize profusely from the bottom of my heart and declare never to exhibit such barbaric behaviour on this most sacrosanct forum. As the Marquis of Montrose I must exhibit nothing but kingly virtue after all.

Then I would go alone to Mordor with the burden of the ring and battle the forces of Sauron to redeem myself of all honour lost.

[thehoj]

I agree. The LCBO sucks ass. I want to try to get a bottle of Balvenie 1991 Portwood and they only have one bottle in the whole province. I have to travel by car for an hour and a half from Oshawa to Missisauga to pick it up. To hell with that though.



Welcome fellow Ontarian!!! :o

Oh and don't forget to consider http://www.spiritoftoronto.ca

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I don't think it's quite as bad as the MLCC.. :( I feel your pain..