Highland Park Cask strength edition

I first tried this whisky at a friends house and I was mesmerized. A big mouth-coating sweetnes with butterscotch and sultanas was tremendous without a drop of water in it.

I bought a bottle for myself, partly because I really enjoyed it when I sampled it and partly because it is released exclusively in Sweden and I happen to like Highland park whisky. "Dissapointed" is too strong but perhaps feeling a bit let down.. Trying my own bottle gives me quite a different experience than that of my friends. I think the reason might be that his bottle had been opened a few months.

Anyhow, these are my notes

Nose:

Big sweetness, sultanas, marshmallows, a quite subtle note of aromatic smoke, citrus, mint and red winegums.

Adding water develops the sweeter notes, salt, peppery raisins, wood and perhaps some camphor.

palate:

On the palate we have some lovely sweet figs and sultanas, a hint of smoke and red bassets winegums. The butterscotch I expected is not present yet, hopefully with time.

Finish:

The finish is quite dry and spicy. Winegums, White pepper, Cayenne pepper, a bit sour.

Sweetnes builds through the finish but there is also an unpleasant and harsh side-note. As the sweetness fades it gives way to this harsh peppery sourness. Maybe the spirit hasn't had sufficient time in the casks to smooth it out and build some more balance.

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