Highland Park Odin

Beaucoup de fruits caramélisés, une pointe de sel, des épices de Noël et du sucre d’orge, dans une explosion de saveurs un peu rough et intense, mais très agréable quand même. Comme un cask strength de leur 18 ans mais en devenir; beaucoup de matière, mais moins sur le cacao que le 18 ans (moins de fumée tourbée et de barrique brûlée). C’est sans le raffinement de leur Freya ou du 18 ans disons, mais ça demeure une bombe de saveurs!

Odin is the king of the nordic gods, and he always wanted to gain wisdom no matter what, and that is why he went to Yggdrasil, the tree of life, to obtain great wisdom. In order to achieve that goal, he had to drank almost daily from a well of wisdom that was guarded by Mimir, a great being. Mimir would only allow Odin to drink from the well, if Odin made an incredible sacrifice. Odin of course decided that great wisdom was something that he needed to have, so he ripped off one of his own eyes, to exchange it for the permission to access the wisdom well. The moral of the story is that you should seek knowledge over any other thing in the world. Highland Park released this "Odin" expression, from their Valhalla collection, and it comes in a dark bottle that shows the Nordic god without and eye, and the decanter comes in the viking ship, Skíðblaðnir. Bottled at 55.8%abv, this one has been matured in Spanish sherry casks & refill hogsheads. On the nose, marvelous. Prunes, rum and raisins ice cream. Cherries. There is this wall of sulphur and caramelized apple. Mint liquor. Strong mint candy. After the first sip, aroma gave me burnt hay, cigarrette. Then the aroma changed into glazed pork, red apples and brownies. SO COMPLEX. Incredible. On the palate, it starts metallic, like licking a coin. Mineral, rocky. Pepper and salt. A second sip gave me red fruits and chilli. It is actually SUPER SALTY and Maritime, like a viking battle ship on the sea. Aftertaste can onñy be described as "a thousand viking battles. Fireworks, a spear with fire and scorched earth are actual aftertaste notes here. So salty, it has this Indian food feeling. It is like a ball of salt! Amazing. Overall, this is perfection. Everyone in my tasting event loved it. I can honestly say that as Loki, from the same Valhalla collection, this are very good whiskies. Lovely, poweful, full of complexity and flavor, this is a whisky you should definitively try at least once in your life. Amazing stuff, my score is 100 over 100.

20220803 - Orkney - 90

Odin is only 16 years old, but wow they must have used some magic casks for this! Intense dried fruit, peat and oak make this the most flavorful whisky I’ve ever tried. Absolutely stunning 98