I was able to pick up this bottle some years ago, before they went down to 40%, so way before they went back up to 47.5%. My sister went somewhere through duty free and called which bottle to bring. This one it was. So, thanks sis!

Anyway, I like Highland Park. A lot. At least, there are a few bottlings nowadays that I can’t be bothered with. Most of the Warrior series that I’ve tried weren’t very impressive, but I haven’t tried the top end. I wasn’t very impressed with Thor either, but I did really like Loki.

So, while it used to be a distillery that I would buy bottles of blindly, currently I prefer to try before I buy. This one is from the previous of those periods.

Highland Park 21. 47.5%. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Right off the bat there’s a slight oaky bitterness, so I am sold. Some spices and a hint of peat as well. Some sherry influence with peaches and plums. The spices are leaning towards cloves, cinnamon sticks and oak.

Sip:
Quite a lot of punch at first, but calms down right after. Spicy again, with oak. There’s a bitterness and a dryness that come with that oak. There’s a gentle fruit sweetness, with some red fruits in the background.

Swallow:
The finish is very much Highland Park, with very complex flavours. Actually, more or less all food groups are present, except for proteins I think. Spices, fruits, malt, oak, smoke. The lot.

This is a delicious whisky. I’m not sure what happened with later versions that had different ABVs, but this one hits a home run. I really like the gentle whiff of peat, with all those spices and hint of fruit as well. Absolutely gorgeous.

Highland Park 21, 47.5%. This old version is about € 125 now at Whiskysite.nl