Facts

Highland Park 1995 (Gordon & MacPhail) – Exclusively bottled for German Fans of Single Malt Whisky 2015 #3

Nose

Fresh, fruity and almost sour. Not what I did expect but compelling nonetheless. Green apples, pear juice, mangoes, sweet oranges and candied lime zest with a cooling note of peppermint and menthol. A bit woody around the edges with spruce wood and pine cone. Hints of vanilla infused honey and caramel in the back.

Taste

Sweet and creamy. Bananas covered in bitter chocolate and honeydew bites. Balanced by white pepper and salted butter.

Finish

Long and creamy. At first dry oak until the trademark Highland Park heather-smoke kicks in.

Overall

Well balanced but not boring at all. The fruitiness caught me by surprise, but in a good way.

Score: 88 / 100

Sample and picture provided by Kirsch Import

Odin, also called The Furious One, is the king of Asgard, the world where the Gods live according to Nordic Mythology. He gave his right eye for wisdom and is accompanied by his wolves Geri and Freki and his raves Huginn and Muninn, who bring him information from all over Midgard (our world). Oh, and he rides the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir. Quite a badass if you ask me.

So now it is the time for the arrival of All-Father Odin, the most strictly limited bottling out of the Valhalla Collection and, in accord with his superior position in the Nordic pantheon, the bottling with the highest strength (55.8% Vol). To be fair a limitation of 17,000 bottles is not that little but the wholes series sells like crazy.

Facts

Highland Park Odin

Nose

A very big Oloroso Sherry flavor upfront. The nose is full of dark fruits and orange peel paired with a cooling heather note. Above all this hovers very gentle smoke. Overall surprisingly light and very sweet but lacks a bit of complexity.

Taste

A strong entrance to the palate with lots of toasted oak. The developing spiciness of freshly ground black pepper catches me by surprise – I guess that is where Odin’s furiousness comes into play. The spiciness wears off now and red berries covered in bittersweet chocolate come to light. A slightly smokey touch in the background.

Finish

Long, dry Sherry with soft fruits. A very smokey final to finish things off.

Overall

So let’s see what you get when we put the clever marketing machine and the fancy black bottle with the stylish wooden longship aside. What you get is a nice but pretty raw and in some aspects even unbalanced 16 Years Old Highland Park. Is this what Odin was all about? My expectations were quite high for this one with all that fuss but the lack of complexity and balance is pretty sobering to me. Sorry, but at the end of the day that one just does not do it for me.

Score: 76 / 100