The Schtick: Matured for 25 years in first-fill Oloroso wine butts, this release is a 25 year old Highland Park from the Islands, and bottled by the SMWS. With 120 bottles coming to the US, it’s limited, but it was also expensive, so there are still a few kicking around. This is bottled at cask strength with no coloring or filtering. Let’s dive in.
Disclosure: None – purchased at retail.
Review #2631 | Whiskey Review #973
Distiller: Highland Park
Bottler: SMWS
Brand: SMWS
Selection: None – General Release
ABV: 50.4% ABV
Age: 25 Years
Nose: Oily and briney on the nose – baked apples, fresh pastries and rising bread, saltwater and taffy. It’s really rich. Brings me right to the shore.
Taste: The palate is divine – oily and loaded with caramels, with brioche sweetness, with iodine and funky shore notes with lovely salinity, fresh lemon zest, big vanilla bean and some final peaty funk. It’s delightfully on brand for Highland Park.
Finish: Long finish, meaty and funky here before the salinity kicks in with rising bread, lemon zest, nutmeg and a big serving of sticky toffee pudding.
Overall: It’s big, it’s bold, it’s gorgeously shoreline and maritime air all in one with a meaty, salinity, minerality foundation. Bravo.
Thanks for reading!
Rank: 8
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