Highland Park 25 Year Old Spring 2019 Release has been created from fewer than 20 sherry seasoned European oak casks, first-fill ex-bourbon casks and refill casks, hand-selected by their Master Whisky Maker, Gordon Motion, from a small treasure of suitable casks.  Half way through now, with many drams shared to family, but a moment of contemplation this evening to update these tasting notes with a solid pour. N: Bright and warming with citrus, wafts of herbaceous floral smoke, maltiness and a fruit juice sweetness and a softening vanilla-fudge note. P: Dried fruits from the sherry cask, but balanced with toffee, gingerbread, vanilla. All underpinned by charry BBQ steak. F: Medium. Slightly sweet smoke with floral savoury flavour. Briny sea-spray. This a whisky that brings complexity, depth of flavour and delicate refinement. The softness of the toffee-vanilla profile is expertly measured against the wonderful BBQ char, floral-herbal smoke and sea spray brine. It’s almost a chewy mouthful, like biting into meat straight from the grill. But, this still demands respect and time to consider and discover. I’d say its time well spent. Sadly though, this isn’t a five stars for me. It’s unquestionably good, to me, but it lacks something. Perhaps I expected something more for 25 years from the esteemed Highland Park, but the magic is missing. When this bottle is gone, I don’t think it’s something I’ll pine for to replace, and so it just isn’t 5 stars. Highland Park heralds as a whisky shaped by wild climate, stormy seas and Viking exploration dating back over 1000 years. But, this whisky dates back further. The Orkney Islands are dominated by the Devonian Old Red Sandstone. These rocks are the 400 million year old natural aquifers responsible for filtering the water used by the distillery that is drawn from Cattie Maggie’s spring. Distiller whisky taste #51 Bottle kill pour 03/11/2022 After pouring 60 ml into a mini bottle to save for later I emptied the last drops to enjoy for the last time in what I suspect will be a very long time. This time around after leaving the pour in a glass for twenty minutes I start nosing… N: honey becomes apparent, I missed that last time. Still bright and warming but now the citrus is slightly more bitter like marmalade. The smoke adds a slightly leathery or tobacco note. Perhaps this is the oxidation at work. Well, it works very well. The previously noted vanilla, and juicy malt are here still and backed by the same delicious floral peat smoke. P: Same as last time. Rich dried fruit, gingerbread, some vanilla. There is lovely sweetness and maybe some newly discovered creaminess, not chocolate per se but a mouthfeel reminiscent of it. The smoke is so restrained, so gentle and so deliciously sticky like BBQ meat glaze. I find this a little more prickly now, similar to really crisp rocket leaves. F: Still medium. Slightly salty with gentle smoke and savoury feel. The new rocket leaves are slightly present still. The addition of a splash of water given yet more time brings out the orange on the nose with less bitterness and more of a fresh orange being squeezed. The most notable development though is the smoke which just gets bigger, more weighty and forceful. The smoke does this without diminishing anything else. Wonderful stuff. This really is excellent. It is, you can’t deny it. But its still not filling me with the excitement I would want for $999! So its not perfect to me. What I remember of the 18, or perhaps even some of the cask strength 01 or 02 bottles I’ve heard good things about, would serve as admirable alternatives at a 1/4 of the cost.