2006 Highland Park 'Wall Street' 13 Year Single Malt Scotch (750 ml)

Highland Park is one of only a handful of distilleries that still retains a traditional malting floor, working each batch of malt by hand, in what is an extremely labor intensive process. To malt their barley, it is steeped it in the mineral rich water from the Crantit spring, before transferred to the malting floor to slowly germinate. When it is ready, the barley is then placed in kilns where the aromatic peating process begins. Highland Park’s bourbon barrels are not routinely filled. Traditional oak casks seasoned with dry Oloroso sherry are used; which the distillery claims help contribute to the “distinctive richness” in the resulting spirit. The whisky then goes through a process called Harmonisation. Distillers often see this practice as an unnecessary expense, yet Highland Park consider it an essential part of their traditional process. Each individual batch of whisky is drawn together from a variety of cask types, contributing an array of flavours. This harmonisation takes up to six months and gives the whisky improved consistency, complexity and balance.