Highland Park – Viking Heart 15 Year Old (70cl, 44%)

Highland Park Viking Heart is a 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky, bottled at 44% in a 70cl porcelain decanter. The decanter is lead-free, glazed inside and out, and embossed with a lion and serpent design. Master whisky maker Gordon Motion chose mainly sherry-seasoned European oak casks for warm, spicy notes and sherry-seasoned American oak for sweet vanilla, adding a few refill casks to soften the flavours. He settled on 44% so that the fruitiness and heathery peat smoke would show clearly. The nose opens with crème brulee, heather honey and cinnamon, followed by pineapple and lemon zest, then sponge cake and toasted cinnamon, with citrus and vanilla lingering in the peat smoke.