Highland Park 12 Year

Nose: prunes. figs. heavy black pepper. wet malt. burnt out coals, sherry. almonds. sugar cookies Taste: malt leads then folds over quickly to sherry flavors. spike of black pepper. no real finish to speak of. a little bit of a honey aftertaste

Exceptional!

Honey is the predominate note on the nose, with a ton of other elements weaving in and out of it. Vanilla and floral notes form the second-layer, with a peppery quality lurking behind that. Some citrus notes never fully came into focus, and there is a hint of cereal and heather that teases right at the end. The sherry influence is obvious but the nose is not overwhelmingly sweet and the longer it sits the more brine comes out on the nose. The palate is such a surprise. Peat smoke shows up predominantly and unexpectedly, fighting aside any sweetness from the nose and bringing more wood with it than the nose would suggest was possible. The brine also comes to the fore and initially lends the smoke a salted meat quality. As the long finish progresses, the smoke turns slightly ashy even as apple and the honey-heather-cereal note from the nose makes a bit of an appearance. The finish is pretty long, with the whisky coating the mouth and that slightly ashy taste leaving me with memories of an hour after smoking a cigar. Throughout the taste there was an element of orange that never quite settled in one place or even particularly came into focus. For not generally being a fan of sherry influence on Scotch this really hits the sweet spot for me, mainly due to the sherry influence being really muted on the palate while still providing some great spicy fruit notes on the nose. Despite the fact that I really can't put a firm finger on any of the notes, this is easily my favorite Scotch and the first whisky I've rated a 5, which for me means something I would actively miss if it goes away and that I always want to have a bottle of.

Citrus, sweet, balanced