This is the third, NAS release from Highland Park’s Warrior Series: Harald. This was a 6-bottle collection that was released in 2018 utilizing more of HP’s Viking heritage and marketing fluff. This was aged in European and American oak casks and was bottled at 40%. I believe retail prices are in the $80 range. This was straw gold and very watery. Tons of medium-sized drops and legs circled the Glencairn after a vigorous spin. The nose struck me with lots of butterscotch and vanilla at first. It took a little time before I picked up some light smoke, oak and sherry. It was very closed off for quite some time- I almost gave up and just went for it. You wouldn’t expect to have to give an NAS over 30 minutes to open up, but this needed that and more. Weird. The palate delivered much more smoke than the nose indicated, followed by ripe berries and weak florals. Some black pepper and ginger ushered in the finish and really gave this one some oomph. This was somewhat mouthwatering and oily and that allowed the softer flavors to linger a bit- which was a nice surprise once the spicy bits burned themselves out. I can only imagine how a little bump in ABV would’ve kicked things up a notch. 40% is just playing it safe and stretching product, especially here. The finish was medium-to-long and warming. Those softer flavors continued on until you washed them away. Very nice for an NAS whisky. Thanks to my buddy Paul for sending me a pour and I think this one was much better than the Einar bottle, it just wasn’t as good of a value. This one comes in just shy of 4 stars because I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. Cheers, my friends.