Style: Sweet and Rich
Nose:
A wonderful opening of fig and raspberry jam on the nose, I thought this is a Bourbon cask, no?! Dates, walnuts and plenty of waxiness going on. Purple flower, cooked tropical fruit stacking on top of thick honeycomb while a pinch of sea salt is tipped on top of subtle seaweed notes. Going a tad acidic as hot spice lashes out pretty late. Finishes with a wave of citrus fruits.
Palate:
Raisins and assorted fruits reduced to syrup. More fig jam, walnut and chocolate pralines. The cask is strong with this one… Maybe the cask was just freshly toasted? Tremendous amount of fragrance and sweetness with hint of peat and dry malt. Refined waxiness, jelly beans, coffee and herbal jelly. Vanilla cream and wood smoke undertone. Spiciness again coming through towards the end, strawberry jam lingers…
Finish:
Quince, dark fruits and date pudding flowing back in with nice and round maltiness. A quick flash of white flower, smoked almonds finish.
Thoughts:
Powerful cask no doubt, resulting a very sweet and cask-driven Highland Park bottled by the Rest & Be Thankful Co. Also I would never have guessed this is a Bourbon cask as there are plenty of red fruits signature written all over it. To me it tastes more like a refill sherry hogshead… But this doesn’t really matter as long as it is tasty right? The spirit has definitely extracted all the goodness from the wood. Perhaps not a typical Highland Park if you are searching for the distillate, but it is also nice to try something different.
☆☆ [Highly Recommended]
[48.4% • Independent Bottling • 2016 Bottled • 1989 Distilled • Single Cask • Cask Strength • Non Chill Filtered • Non Coloured • 149 of 230 Bottles • Matured in a Bourbon Cask • Cask Number: 3257 • **]
-Esmond
WhiskNick 