Highland Park Odin – 55.8% abv

Info: 16yo, created from a combination of Spanish oak sherry casks and re-fill hogsheads.
Colour: Rich autumnal gold, touch of rust.
Nose: A light smokiness leads you in to gentle citrus fruits, tangerines and then back to peaty smokiness again, a light floral peat smoke, not your heavy Islay smoke. In the background there’s touches of fairly old oak soon superseded by milk chocolate notes, then back to citrus.
Palate: Really thick, gently oaky, very oily and peaty; peat almost going to the coal side of things, in a good way… Similar to the nose it’s a very light floral peat, no TCP, the more it opens up a BBQy type peat flavour comes out.
Finish: Really long, slightly fizzy and huggingly warm on your chest. Beautiful peat that eventually peeters out into leaving malt hanging around on your senses.
Water: Doesn’t really need it, probably best without, I didn’t try any.
Thoughts: I came to this almost ambivalently, I’ve enjoyed the whole range, but I dislike the price and the fandom that comes with it; the instant sell out in shops to collectors – after all it is only a 16yo cask strength whisky carrying a premium price tag and marketing to match. So it’s taken me a wee while to get to this sample… and boy was that a mistake, it really is a stonkingly good dram, I’m just sad I can’t / couldn’t afford a bottle.
Available: You’ll be lucky. Auctions etc. only by now I’d imagine.

Thanks to Highland Park for the sample.