Highland Park 18 yo (sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea, distill the whisky just for me)

I think that island whisky should always taste of nature. Peat and smoke mostly, as with the Islay style, but peat and fruit is also a great combination. The new Highland Park 18 year old official bottling works very well, combining fruit, peat and a bit of chocolate lurking in the background. It's not as natural as some other islanders, but it's very tasty indeed.

I found this bottle 40% cheaper than the UK regular retail price at Changi Airport duty free. It's definitely worth nosing around the spirit sections at airports - occasionally there's something available for a very decent price. The UK airports have World of Whisky, where the staff know their stuff and it's very difficult to find something unusual that hasn't been repriced, but outside the UK, there's occasionally something.

Highland Park 18 yo (OB)
Single malt - Islands
Amber
43% ABV

Nose: Rose, guava, malty beer, peat and a little smoke. Some iodine and sea salt, lurking underneath, pungent to the nose.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, syrupy, a little watery around the edges.
Tasting: Sweet sour. Barley, chocolate, melon and pear. Hints of coffee.
Finish: Long, sour, citrusy tang.

I'm going to try this out with some Chinese teas. Floral and fruit flavours, mixed with slightly chemical bitter notes - there are some similarities between the whisky and the tea. Maybe there are some good flavour combinations. I tasted the whisky by sipping it, then chasing with a mouthful of tea, letting the whisky and tea mix.

1. Pinhead gunpowder.

The tea comes in little rolled up balls of black tea leaf, and has a pungent smoky smell, hence the name. Mixing the whisky and the tea created something earthy and vegetal, with sweet oaky smoke (no longer peaty). The heat from the tea helped release aromas, but the sweet chocolaty and fruity notes were transformed into something more resembling beefsteak tomato and matcha, Japanese green tea.

2. White monkey.

I've reviewed this tea before. It's a green tea, and has a light vegetal taste. Combined with the whisky, notes of cedar and sandalwood appear. It reminds me of incense, the fragrant kind burnt outside Thai Buddhist temples. With more tea, notes of coconut and synthetic grape flavour appear. Very interesting.

3. Dragon pearl.

I've also reviewed this tea before (fragrant jasmine scented, slightly sweet). It seems too light for the whisky, with the delicate floral notes overwhelmed by the peaty sweet flavours. But as the whisky goes down, and the finish fades, there's a faint jasmine scent that lingers in the mouth. Ethereal, makes me think of playing the flute in moonlight, somehow. Maybe I have an overactive imagination.

4. Biluochun.

This is a green tea rolled into pinhead pearls, which expand a great deal in boiling water. The tea has a salty chlorophylly taste, with more than a hint of Japanese dried seaweed (nori). The whisky seems to take on a salty, fermented taste in combination with the tea. Rather like soya sauce, slightly unpleasant. Um. I don't think this works very well.


And the winner is Dragon Pearl tea! Awarded the prize for surviving such a robust whisky and still managing to gently reach the nose with refreshing jasmine fragrance at the end of every sip.