Highland Park 19 Years Old For Maxxium Netherlands Cask 2793 55.3% 1986

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (91)

olour: amber. Nose: powerful but not overpowering at all, starting on sherry as expected, together with the usual official Highland Park’s complexity. Something faintly acidic (kiwis), metallic (silverware) and distinctively heathery that makes me think of the greatest old bottlings (with the black round labels). Lots of mocha, with also something smoky (wood smoke), tary, nicely rubbery, with dried oranges, flowers from the fields, notes of old roses… Just superb!Mouth: oh yes, it’s a perfect Highland Park, maybe just a tad too rubbery now. Creamy, bold and ‘wide’, with loads of candy sugar, orange tree honey, these metallic tastes again (nothing unpleasant, quite on the contrary) and some smoky, tary notes as well. Notes of violet sweets, lavender sweets, fruitcake, caramelized cashews (I think it’s a Chinese ‘desert’, it’s excellent) and old sweet wine – the sherry, not a dull, sweetishly sweet one at all. And it keeps developing, mostly on crystallized sweets (and candied angelica). The finish is long, bold, almost ‘thick’ and very satisfying. Almost perfect, but why only for (our friends) the Dutchmen? ;-) Anyway, 91 points for this one

BOW (91)