Highland Park Voyage of the Raven

Sherry、smoke

This travel retail exclusive, NAS release from Highland Park is blended to showcase sherry influence over smoke. This bottle contains primarily first fill, sherry whisky and is watered down to just slightly above 41% ABV. I added this bottle to an international order last winter and it has been sitting on the bar staring at me for quite some time. Needless to say, the low ABV hasn’t really excited me. Anyway, it’s a rich copper in color- evidence of the first fill cask aging. It’s oily with large water droplets forming quickly and releasing into heavy, undefined legs in the Glencairn. The nose is intensely sherried. There’s a light, chocolatey smoke mulling about but there’s no hint of heat, wood or ABV. This is as close to a Speyside-style malt as I’ve ever had from HP. The palate relies heavily on the sherry again, but this time the smokiness is replaced with a biting, salty aspect that makes the palate seem overly harsh, in spite of the low ABV. It threw me off quite a bit from the nosing and the two aspects to not jive very well. The finish is medium length and warming, with a spicy oak bite and tell tale signs of youthful spirit. At no point does any heat come into play and only a hint of spiciness lingers. Yawn. Overall, this is the most mixed-up HP I think I’ve had. It wants to focus on sherry finishing, but it gives up the smoke and most of the Island characteristics usually found with Highland Park. I think by cutting the ABV they cut this one short. It seems like they are pushing quantity of product out the door instead of quality. Which, as we all know, is the end goal of most non-age statement whisky. They should’ve saved the stock and just let it age and be used in something better down the road. Factor in a price point above $80 and I can only muster 2.5-2.75 stars, max. HP fans should look elsewhere. Cheers.