Highland Malt Voyage of the Raven

‘For our Viking Ancestors, the raven was a powerful symbol of victory in battle, success on a voyage and loyalty to the God, Odin’. Hello? This next NAS-expression to be concocted in the Highland Park labs? It does come in a beautiful box and distinctive bottle though. That may sound somewhat harsh, but I am no longer the HP fan that I used to be. Too many ‘marketing whisky’ to my taste. Hopefully this one is a good one. It is bottled at 41.3% which is somewhat surprising.

I get sweet sherry, raisin pastry, hazelnuts, apple sauce, furniture polish and wet cardboard on the nose. The peat is very delicate – which is fine by me – the fruit of the red variety – which is fine by me – but the cardboard is very prominent – which is not fine by me.

Nicely oily and surprisingly spicy on the palate. Think nutmeg, vanilla and ginger. The vanilla is even quite loud. Then the fruit – which works hand-in-glove with the peat smoke – turns somewhat dark. Blueberries, dried peach and a lot raisin. Midpalate, the oak does give it a bitter touch. Not bad, but not top either.

The finish is medium long, a touch spicy and drying.

Well, not bad, but I do expect a little more complexity from HP and this one lacks in that department. You will cough up 60 EUR for this (not me, though). And if you wonder what the hell the title is all about: it’s the two ravens (Though and Memory) that were the eyes and ears of Odin according to the Norse saga. Nuff said.