Highland Park 27 Years Old 1986 4.202 Salt and pepper (45.1%, SMWS, Refill HH, 261 Bottles, 2015)

• Island single malt scotch whisky
• 45.1% ABV, £126
• Score: 86/100

What they say:

Cask No. 4.202

We found ourselves in a garden shed on the Atlantic coast. The salty sea breeze impregnated everything – work bench, wooden shelves, compost, window flower boxes, used paint tins and in the corner an old leather couch where you can find rest whilst enjoying smoking a pipe. The taste neat had all that raggedness, oiliness and saltiness with the smooth finish of a sweet, well hoped Porter beer. Water added aromas of a camp stove with Earl Grey tea brewing and strawberry jam filled doughnuts, and in the taste mackerel pate on a salty cracker washed down with Dr Pepper.

Drinking Tip – Relaxing after a hard day’s work outside

Date Distilled: 8 December 1986 Colour: Lager Shandy Age: 27 years Flavour : Oily & coastal Cask Type: Refill Hogshead Whisky Region: Highland Northern

Outturn: 261 bottles

What I say:

Dram #4 from SMWS The Vaults New List Steak & Chips Tasting held by Ryan McCafferty on 3rd February 2015. A rather interesting expression that received a mixture of responses from around our table. Now firmly fed with a large plate of Steak & Chips, this expression sat right on top of this savoury feast with consummate ease.

Colour:

Refractive gold (9/20), light-medium tears

Nose:

Heather blossom honey, almonds, marzipan, bakewell tart, vegetal – cabbages, fruity, orange, peach, apricot, spiced, prunes, salted caramel (made me wonder if this was from Jura) cherry lips sweeties and tobacco

Taste:

Lemon and lime citrus, sweet pastries, shortbread, toffee, caramel, fudge, thins a little in the mouth, fruity mango, pomegranate, passion fruit – quite tropical and finishes with cherry bakewell tart/almond and pastry

Finish:

Short, sweet caramel, maraschino cherry, hints of sulphur/rubber

Overall:

Very enjoyable and possible a little perplexing as I couldn’t quite decide if this was sherry-cask influenced as the last or just an odd mixture of fruity spirit and aged tropical fruits. The reveal of a well-aged (27 Years Old) HIghland Park (SMWS distillery #4) went a long way to explaining some of these flavour characteristics! It was certainly delicious!