For my 200th review, I decided to go for the 2019 version of Highland Park 30 that was bottled at 45.2%. Instead of going for a full bottle with the high admission price of $1k+, I was able to pick up two one-ounce samples from The Whiskey Exchange for a reasonable price. Before I opened the samples, I fed my orange cat some wet-food to calm his inner Scar which tends to sense fear followed by waiting with baited breath to strike his prey of an unattended whisky glass off the counter similar to watching Mufasa fall off the cliff before dashing off to hide and revel with glee of accomplishing his destructive deed. With him satiated after a cat style Thanksgiving dinner, I opened the samples, poured them in a glass then pushed it behind a barrier and let it breathe for about 30 minutes before returning to it to dive in. The nose is soft and delicate starting with an initial sherry blast with cinnamon raisin cookies followed by ocean brine and light smoke underscoring fruits of grilled peaches, sautéed caramel apples, and fresh figs that transitions to light floral notes and minerality before fading to spices of ginger, cloves, perfectly balanced old oak and leather with light ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with sherry notes of chocolate covered raisins along with cinnamon sugar cookies followed by a background of ocean brine and light smoke underscoring fruits of grilled peaches, sautéed caramel apples, orange zest and figgy pudding before a mild drying spice that fades to ginger, cloves, dusty library books and slightly ashy old oak with light ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate covered raisins, caramel apple fritters, orange zest, ocean brine, ginger, cloves, light peat smoke, leather and slightly ashy oak. This is a beautifully well composed whisky that starts with a light, delicate and balanced nose with a mix of sherry, orchard fruits, salt, smoke and old oak that carries over to the taste where the sherry is front and center before a backdrop of sea and smoke with orchard fruits that veers towards a mild dry spice that fades to ashy old oak and finishes medium length with dark chocolate, sherry, orchard fruits and ashy oak. The balance is near perfect on this one, but my main gripe is that the flavors are so light with a thinner body and a slightly tannic oak spice on the palate and finish. This could have been a perfect whisky with a higher proof on it to ramp those flavors up and give it a better viscosity, but that’s my personal preference of being a proof ***** and loving 50%+ drams best.