While I can’t quite meet the same level of class as @PBMichiganWolverine ‘s hotel tastings, on a recent business trip I got up the gumption to visit a hole in the wall liquor store nearby to see if they had any hidden “treasures”. This was the kind of the hole in the wall (or window into the sewer) establishment that had iron bars over any sort of opening into the premises, salacious ads for women posted everywhere, abrasive clientele, and an eerie aura that made you seriously ponder why you rolled up there in the first place. Actually.... what was I doing there? So this was going to be a quick stop. Nonchalant speed perusing, speed perusing...overpriced Japanese whisky....nonchalant speed perusing....overpriced Irish whiskey...1 bottle of Blanton’s (overpriced)....and 1 beat up bottle of Highland Park 18 (w/o any Viking’s Pride). For $110. Now, there are probably some people who live in markets where this isn’t a big deal. Maybe this happens for them all the time? But I come from a bad whisky market. So I was immediately gleeful and forced to hide my glee because I might tip off the shopkeep that he hadn’t visited this shelf in a while (judging from the other prices in that place, this bottle had been overlooked for some time) and remind him that he had seriously undervalued something in the process. I take my prize up there like it was a bottle of Jack, and he stares me down when he sees that faded, yellowing sticker. Did I switch tags on him? Did this chick know what she just carted up to the counter? Should he refuse to sell it to me? He didn’t. But he did charge me an extra $5 for a bogus service fee that it seemed he was daring me to take issue with. (I did warn you this was a slimy establishment...) In any case, I escape. Back to my hotel room, where I am going to enjoy this delicious bottle of perfectly-aged Scotch in a subpar hotel glass because I haven’t tasted it in so long. Until the cork breaks off when I try I open it. Ugh, my luck! (No, I did not yank on it...) Nevertheless, she persisted. I fish it out of there with some creative toothpick placement and pour the first dram of Highland Park 18 I’ve smelled in much too long. Delicious. And while I’d love to regale you with my hotel tasting notes and equally enthusiastic “TL;DR” attempts to get an 18 year old bottle of Scotch with an AWOL cork home, I won’t. And will instead just tell you that I did manage it, and I can now provide you with notes from a proper tasting performed in the comfort of my own home. Nose: Fragrant and elaborate, yet mild-mannered. Delicate floral notes and peak-season farmers market fruits are elegantly married to sea spray, moss, earth, and sweet smoke on a restrained holiday. It has the aromatic intensity of a perfectly brewed cup of herbal tea with a drop of smoked lemon for balance. I don’t want to stop nosing it, it evolves a bit every time you sit and visit with it. Palate: Smokey creme brûlée, stewed fruits, lemon meringue pie, woody nutmeg spice, morel mushrooms, heather, and refined, mossy peat. A lovely succession of sweets and cream, tart and lightly salted fruits, barrel astringency, and smoke. It may be a bit light-bodied for palates accustomed to heavy-hitting Islay’s, but it has a wonderful mouthfeel and texture and the malt shines through. Unimaginably smooth and balanced. There’s nothing to add or subtract. Finish: Long, sweet, caramel smoke with the faint reminders of quality time in barrels. You can still taste this minutes later and it will probably season your pores for hours later. To me, this bottle is a rare success of the aged, mossy peat pairing perfectly with time spent in quality Sherry casks - you don’t always need a sledgehammer of peat nor a tsunami of wine. This isn’t the profile of your next door neighbor’s barbecue pit char stirred into your Speyside either, this is the incense of something delicious cooking a few streets over and you have to know what it is they’re enjoying. If you could bottle the essence of mountains and meadows with the harvests of late summer and barrel it in a seaside vacation campfire, this may be what you end up with 18 years later. 5.0 ~ 98 ~ Resplendent. Nirvana.