Highland Park, 30-Year-Old, Island, Single Malt Scotch Whisky (45.2%)

The Highland Park 30-year-old displays a hauntingly complex and polished nose, like an ancient library stacked with rarities, at first revealing notes of smoked almonds and waxed mahogany. It’s distinctly perfumed and lifted, with eucalyptus and thyme, before waves of brown sugar, pecan pie and baked apples come to the fore. 

A mélange of savoury flavours on the palate: lapsang souchong, tarte tatin and black peppercorns coat the palate and are followed by cigar smoke and rancio notes. There is a fascinating interplay and balance between sweet honeycomb, orange marmalade and pleasantly bitter dark chocolate, which morphs into Black Forest gâteau. 

A singular dram of kaleidoscopic complexity, this is true meditation whisky. Enjoy it by itself and lose yourself in a glass. Like a much-loved novel, you’ll find yourself unable to put it down.

Alex Weller, Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd (April 2023)