Review #881 | /r/Scotch Review #296 – Highland Park 26yr Murray McDavid 1989
The Schtick: This is an independent bottling of Highland Park distillate that was bottled by Murray McDavid. It is 26 years old, was matured mainly in a bourbon barrel and then finished in a Banyuls fortified wine cask. It is bottled without coloring, or filtering.
Distiller: Highland Park
Bottler: Murray McDavid
ABV: 46% ABV
Age: 26 Years
Nose: Sweet cream, honey, apple juice. Faint smoke, lingering brine. Bready and sweet. Lots of vanilla.
Taste: Medium mouth feel. Lots of sweetness here. Smoke is also present in force. Some heat. Sweet vanilla, mild cocoa. Lots of pepper, faint oak. Some wafer cookie. Little stewed fruits, but mostly a dram focused on the peat and vanilla / oak influence.
Finish: Long, rich and sweet. Vanilla, rich, ashy smoke. Lots of berries here – blackberry and cranberry with the cocoa and sweetness. Ash continues on for some time.
Overall: Really quite nice, and a great marriage of oak, Highland Park smoke and some new found fruitiness.
Thanks for reading!
Rank: 7
Other Highland Park Expressions I Have Reviewed:
- Highland Park 12yr
- Highland Park 18yr
- Highland Park 28yr Cadenheads
- Highland Park 25yr Signatory Vintage 1988
- Highland Park Odin
- Highland Park Full Volume
- Highland Park 15yr Gordon & MacPhail 1999
- Highland Park “The Dark” 17yr
- Highland Park Freya (The Valhalla Collection)
- Highland Park Loki (The Valhalla Collection)
WEBSITE | DISCORD | INSTAGRAM | SUBREDDIT |SEARCHABLE ARCHIVE
Decoded:
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
