Highland Park Single Cask 1995
Nose: Sulphur straight from the start. Like gunpowder, or what you smell after lighting fireworks. Sea salt and light smoke. Soy sauce (??). Dark chocolate and cinnamon. Salted caramel. Cooked fruits like berries. Tobacco and leather. Rubber, something like carpet glue. One of the weirdest noses I’ve ever experienced. Taste: Strong, sharp, bitter spices. Clear sherry notes. Almonds and very, very dark chocolate. Dark roasted nuts. A big nutmeg note. Sulphur and salt again, leathery and wet tobacco. Light, flowery smoke. Finish: The smoke is more obvious here. Bitter chocolate and spice, with some faint fruits in the background. Salted caramel again, with emphasis on the salt. Some sharp oak follows, with sulphur and rubber. In the end there’s smoky sherry.