The Perfect Fifth - Highland Park 31 Year Old Orkney Island Single Malt Scotch (750ml)

Price: $3299.99

* Not eligible for case discounts

Producer	The Perfect Fifth
Country	United Kingdom
Region	Scotland
Subregion	Orkney Islands
Style	Scotch Single Malt Whisky
Sku	1206602031
Size	750ml

This is bottle number 5 out of 185.

This whisky was distilled on June 30, 1987

The Perfect Fifth Description

JIM MURRAY’S WHISKY BIBLE 2020

Vintage: 1987
Strength: 47.1%
Bottled Year: 2019
Region: Orkney Islands
Number of Bottles: 185

Rating: 96.5 * Liquid Gold Award Winner *

The Perfect Fifth Highland Park 1987 cask no. 1531

Nose: Pretty near perfect HP for its age, and one of the best examples of the distillery of that era I have nosed for a
very long time. Slightly above average peat for a HP, which works perfectly in its favour. The usual heather honey
has been skewed slightly by the heady mix of tannins and peat. The saltiness is profound, the oak a rich, spicy
backbone. The sweetness is subtle and still honeyed, but more now a blend of Manuka and orange blossom. Truly
magnificent!
Taste: Scotland’s silkiest malt at its most silky. The bold smoke on arrival is caught in the velvet gloves of the lightly
oiled barley sugar, a dark liquorice sweetness spreading as the oak makes its mark. The spices are prim, proper and
just so, never moving out of their set orbit while the honey starts to make its long-awaited mark, bringing with it
the light smoke; a quick surge of exotic fruit underlines the antiquity with aplomb.
Finish: Long, increasingly smoky with the spices still teasing and forging a beautiful duet with the molassed sugars;
the oak beats out an aged pulse but the phenols return to soften as well and entertain.
Balance: This is a malt whisky coming to the end of its life, like a star becomes a white dwarf before the end of its
existence. In density is huge…and I mean gigantic. The oaks are about to explode…but the cask has been bottled in
the nick of time where the balance is still near perfect. Fine margins…for a very fine whisky.