Now then, I do share the overall skepticism with these NAS bottlings, and had a lot of that skeptical feeling in me when this whisky found its way to my glass. In this case, the taste was a positive surprise - and price is "not impossibly" high (compare to say Glenmorangie Signet). This one reminded me of past HPs that used to contain more sherry.
Nose: Sherried, but not a fullscale, near-blackish "sherrybomb" - rather slightly lighter in style, not unlike today's Macallans, if you get my drift. Contains definitely more sherry on the nose than the 12yo or the 18yo, and seems in general more powerful in profile. The "used match" odor, often associated with Highland Parks, is also there. Nice!
Flavour: Confirmed - more robust and flavourful than the current 12yo or 18yo - in a good way. Reminiscent of some of the older Highland Park bottlings where sherry had more of a say than today. The sherry is not overpowering, I still find the signature heather-moneyed notes in there as well - and that aforementioned "scratched matchstick". Dark, sugarfree high % cocoa chocolate, espresso perhaps? Some orange peel, and vanilla as well. "Supercharged" in flavour when compared side to side with its core range brothers.
Finish: Oaky sherried tannins, a touch of peat & smoke, some lingering honey. Drying...Very pleasant.
More blahblah in the blog entry linked below...Taste for yourself, it is still the best way to get to know the dram
http://whisky-rum.blogspot.fi/2014/10/h ... s-468.html