1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years Review

I love Highland Park, but then who doesn’t these days? When they’re on, they’re ON and in the case of this 1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years, they were ON. A single cask bottled by Signatory for K&L, it’s a heavily peated HP that stands out from the pack. I reviewed a sample a while ago, but digging into the bottle several years later is a bit of a different experience.

I’m so used to the lightly peated Highland Park that when something this heavily peated arrives it’s a bit of a shock to the senses. It’s a good shock, like the first kiss with a new lover or your dog waking you from a nap with a lick to the face. The kind of shock you’re happy with reliving till the bottle runs dry.

1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years Review: Details and Tasting Notes

An intensely peated whisky that is now sold out, the 1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years Color is a whisky worth seeking out a sip of as a specialty bar with a deep selection.

In Highland Park’s Words: 1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years

1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years price, ABV, age and other details

Region: Highlands, Scotland

Distiller: Highland Park
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: Hogshead
Age: 25 Years (98-14)
ABV: 51.2%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Barrel: 740
Bottle: 192/231

Price: NA – Auction, Specialty Store or Private Seller

1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years Tasting Notes

EYE
Gold

NOSE
Peat, orchard fruit, honey, malt, tropical fruit, caramel, cotton candy and a touch floral with some notes of butterscotch and saline.

PALATE
Peat, orchard fruit, tropical fruit, honey, grassy malt, toffee, spice, vanilla, graham and some bits of soap and banana pudding.

FINISH
Medium -> Dried orchard fruit, banana pudding, peat and tropical fruit.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Great balance, full body and an oily feel.

1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years Review: OVERALL

Wow, 1988 Signatory Vintage Highland Park 25 Years is a solid HP with an intense amount of peat. When I think of Highland Park I don’t think about intense peat, I think more of light or dark fruit profiles bolstered by malt and light or dark sweet notes and sometimes some rustic spice notes with peat as a light accent. But here it’s more like an exclamation mark.

Under and beside the peat sit some great profiles of fruit and spice with a touch of oak making random appearances. It’s a dynamic, crisp and interesting whisky that showed well at the Malt Nuts Highland Park Mega Tasting and shows even better on its own.

SCORE: 89/100 (B+)