Review 277. Thompson Brothers 18 year old ‘Highland single malt’

After last week’s ‘heat wave review’, I’m still staying well clear of anything hot or dark in terms of flavour profile and instead deliberately aim for a lighter style to pour and enjoy. As luck has it, earlier in the week I got together with my buddy Joe. We met up for lunch and seeing how we’ ve been doing quite a bit of ‘bottle splitting’ in recent months, we both had a few bottles to transfer. As these things go, each of us threw in a few samples as well and so today’s review is brought to you, courtesy of Joe.

Seemingly in no time, Thompson Brothers have established themselves as a highly regarded, well sought-after indie bottler. They started in 2013 as indie bottlers, a couple of years before kicking off with their Dornoch distillery, and it’s fair to say that they immediately were on top of the game. Of course, there’s pedigree to them – as their parents ran the Dornoch Castle Hotel (and with it its world famous whisky bar) and pretty much were brought up in a place where there’s all these amazing whiskies, literally lying around. As proper whisky botherers, they built their whisky business with a sound and solid perspective: what would we like to see as customers and enthusiasts? The answer is absolutely straightforward and dead simple: Combining good quality with fair prices. Incidentally (but not really, of course) that’s pretty much the best marketing strategy any company or producer can go for these days. You can pretty much bank on it that not before long someone like Roy, Ralfie or (fill in your go to whiskytuber/blogger here)  will pick up on it, and then word of mouth will do the rest. And I’m pretty sure that combining quality with fair prices (i.e.: not milking your customers for every penny) will reward itself double fold as it will not only mean that you won’t need to rely on expensive advertising, but it will also pretty much guarantee that you will sell every last bottle of whatever batch it is you put out on the market. Take note, Edrington…

So… is today’s whisky a good example of that golden combo where the price to quality ratio hits the sweet spot?

Thompson Brothers 18 yo Highland single malt whisky (undisclosed Highland Park) 2025 release. 48.5% ABV, NC, UCF, app. €75/£65

All that said, Thompson Brothers releases  - despite there being well over 500 by now – may not always be easy to find outside of the UK. Usually, the German market is well stocked, as are the Netherlands and in recent times over here in Belgium we do regularly see them on the shelves – fortunately, I will add. I was immediately triggered by this whisky when Joe gifted me the sample. For all the obvious reasons: it’s an 18 yo, it’s got a lovely yellow-pale colour (so likely that means either bourbon casks or refill – likely at least 2^nd or even third fill – sherry casks) and last but not least: it’s a Highland Park. It’s no coincidence I namedropped Edrington already, as they are usually quite good at doing two things: putting a lot of bells and whistles on to their products (not seldom to make up for a subpar delivery where quality is concerned) and then charging an (ultra) premium for them.  As a consequence, it’s been years since I last bought an official bottle of Highland Park. That said, I’ve heard good things about the official cask strength releases they’ve been doing in recent years, but apart from one dram at a whisky festival, I’m still to properly taste and try any of it. In any case: here we have an 18 yo indie version of a Highland Park, at higher ABV than the official release, and at least 40% less than what that one would retail for. On paper this is already a clear winner, but ‘on paper’ is not the same as ‘in the glass’, of course…

Nose

Estery and fruity on white fruit and yellow fruit notes. A whiff of citrus. Herbal-heathery-floral notes and honey. This is said to be lightly peated, but it’s not manifesting itself as a note in its own right; more is it like a subtle ‘fil rouge’ running through everything. Overall the profile is ‘light’ but make no mistake: everything is very pronounced and outspoken. Off to a promising start, this!

Palate

A slow, somewhat closed arrival. Some pepper and ginger and again that herbal-heathery element. The fruity and floral notes are far less obvious now. Perhaps a bit of water helps…, Indeed, it puts a lid on the spice and pepper but only just. Shyly, with the added water some of the fruitier notes return. The mouthfeel is clinging and a bit viscous, but not dense as such. The peat I really struggled to find to be honest.

Finish

Dry and spices with that soft ginger and pepper notes.

Final thoughts

 Despite the 18 years, this noses and tastes like a significantly younger whisky and overall the profile is what I’d associate with a 10 – 12 year old whisky. Of course that’s not a point of criticism in any way but merely an observation (as, unrelated: some of my all-time favourite whiskies are in that 10  to 12 year old age bracket). I put this down to the casks that were used to mature this not having much life in them – so I might well be right with that 2^nd or even 3d fill I guessed when looking at the colour. The nose really spoke to me and seduced me in no small way. The palate, I feel, can’t really live up to those expectations and is less impressive. Overall at €75 or there about for an 18 yo single mat whisky there is very little to argue about: an absolutely decent, yet perhaps slightly unremarkable whisky. You shouldn’t expect to find liquid gold with this one, but you get pretty much exactly what you paid for.