Highland Park 23 Years Old Silver Seal Wildlife Collection 8090 51.5% 1981

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (90)

With superb cheetahs on the label. Aren’t those big cats cheetahs? Colour: straw. Nose: pah-pah-pah… Dill, lime, chartreuse, wet chalk, wormwood, verbena, honeydew… This is perfect, extremely fresh, profound at the same time, perfectly constructed… And I find this kind of earthy vanilla just mesmerising. Well, almost. With water: gets coastal. Have your lifejackets ready. Mouth (neat): exceptional. Everything’s perfect. Starts smooth and even ‘stupidly’ tropical (mangos, passion fruits), and then never stops developing with everything HP, chiefly mineral/mentholated honey, then many tiny herbs – won’t list them, no worries – and waxes. With water: a class act. Some kind of mixed tropical fruit juice, but with body and structure. Funny how this one swims. Finish: medium, and extremely fruity. Benriach or Tomatin, come out of this body! Comments: an HP that’s a little tropical at times. Totally sexy and yet not too populist. Oh well, I know what I’m trying to say.