Oh, Highland Park! I thought to myself when my buddy @Generously_Paul sent me a pour of this themed, 10yo release from 2017. Is this another subpar release where they use some crazy, Viking-esque type of label and packaging? Well, sort of, but I can give them a pass this time for the theming- and I actually thought the whisky was okay, as well. Rebus 30 is a 10 year old whisky (kind of confusing, ain’t it?) that was released to honor a fictional crime novel character who was celebrating his 30th year of existence. Highland Park joined with writer Ian Rankin for the 20th anniversary release back in 2007 with a release called Knots & Crosses- so, this line of bottles isn’t HP’s way of cashing in like the Viking lineage. There is an established history with this release- so, I’ll give them a pass on the theming. How is the actual whisky? That’s what we’re here to find out... First of all, it’s bottled at 40% ABV and it’s chill filtered and probably has added coloring. It’s new gold in color and very oily. Slow forming, skinny legs fall down the sides of your Glencairn followed by heavy, runny drops after a healthy spin. The nose has an odd, barnyard funk right off the bat, smoke is also mysteriously absent. Sherry cask flavors and honey-dipped berries and cereal malt form the crux of the whisky after a few minutes resting in the glass. Like a good mystery novel, this whisky is leading you down a strange path in its early chapters. The palate strikes right away with honeycomb, toasted almonds, dry roast peanuts and very light, sherry sweetness. Again, the smoke is still MIA on the front end. Some minerality and earthy peat creep in on the backside of the tongue. There’s no campfire smoke or briny characters in the mix. It’s oily and full on the tongue but lacking in barrel spice and heat because the ABV is too low. Drinkability is up, but it doesn’t feel as though there’s much whisky in my whisky, and that’s the ultimate reason this whisky gets lower marks. The finish should be where the novel (whisky) reveals its twist, but this isn’t M Night Shamalayan, it’s a British guy so...it’s still rather tame. There is a tiny bit of smoke, but it’s closer to barrel char than smoldering, campfire embers. It’s also short, weak and a little unfulfilling. Some lingering berry sweetness is detected but it fades quickly and rather harmlessly. So, how do I score this thing? Well, I don’t want to penalize it for it’s theming- I’m cool with paying homage to a British crime author. At least it’s a break from the unrelenting Viking stuff. The 10yo age statement doesn’t add or hurt the score either. The best part about this is that it’s funkier than most HP stuff. I can appreciate that, I guess. I can’t give it a boost for complexity because thats not in the cards, either. All these factors accounted for- I say this is a 3-3.25 star release. This whisky just isn’t mysterious enough to make you read more into it (puns galore). It’s a cool enough bottle for the HP fanboys, but everyone else can shrug this one off and look elsewhere. Thanks again Paul, for the sample. Cheers. • also, Paul has a humorous, video review for this very whisky over on his YouTube channel- Dapper Drams. Check it out if you’d like to see (better) tasting notes from him and watch his brother just struggle, in general, with being new to scotch whisky.