Highland Park 1990

The last Vintage from Highland Park that I will be trying is the 1990, bottled (just like his younger brothers) in 1990, exclusively for duty free shops. So this is a 20 Year Old.

The nose is soft and very lightly smoky, but very herbal. Garden herbs to be precise: thym and parsley. The fruit is from the citrus family with hints of apricots and gooseberries. Even some coconut. No mint, but eucalyptus. Freshly polished leather and some candle wax. Honey and furniture polish. Quite a complex nose. While softer than that of the 1994, I prefer this one.

The attack is soft and a little spicy, shows citrus fruit up front but turns bitter quickly as if from tea that was left too long. Luckily there is enough honey to keep it creamy. Tobacco and leather, but also eucalyptus. Some apricots jam and orange marmalade. Grapefruit. Mandarin from a can. Big smokiness now. Gets back on its feet after the initial bitterness and turns out quite complex.

The finish is long and smoky on grapefruit and lemon zest.

For a minute there, it looked like this one was going belly up on the palate, but that was just a feint. Between 80 and 100 EUR, depending on where you shop.

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