I failed to mention in the preamble to Monday’s review of the Highland Park 12 for the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers that all this week’s reviews will be of whiskies from Highland Park. Consider it now mentioned. Monday’s review was from a firkin (a smaller than normal cask), which had previously held sherry. Today’s review is of a 15 yo matured in a bourbon barrel (ignore what it says on the sample label). It’s from a parcel of Signatory casks, all bourbon barrels, with proximate numbers. It was bottled for a Chicago outfit called Vintage Wines (which Google tells me is now permanently closed). Michael K. of Diving for Pearls informs that bottles of this barrel hung out on the shelves at Binny’s in Chicago for at least two-and-a-half years. Is that because most people go to Highland Park for heavy sherry? Well, I do like a good bourbon cask Highland Park. Let’s see if this is one and if it will make this week’s Highland Park streak so far a positive one.

Highland Park 15, 1999 (57.6%; bourbon barrel 800198; from a bottle split)

Nose: Light mineral peat (slightly plasticky), orange peel, sweet grassy notes (oh, okay, fine: heather). On the second sniff there’s some wax and the citrus moves in the direction of citronella. With time there’s quite a bit of waxy, oily lemon peel and some concentrated sweeter fruit (peach, pineapple) to go with it; just a hint of pastry crust as well. With more time still, the pastry crust expands. With a few drops of water there’s some floral sweetness and more of the pastry crust.

Palate: Comes in with sweet orange hard candy with slightly bitter, waxy peel following. A good bite at full strength but approachable; lovely oily texture. More oak presence on the second sip but it’s far from tannic. More citrus here too with time and the salt pops out a bit earlier. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. It pushes the oak back, brightens up the citrus and adds some chalk to it.

Finish: Medium-long. There’s some salt as I swallow and then the oak expands. As it sits the fruit lingers into the finish which gets sweeter. As on the palate with water.

Comments: Doesn’t have the pine that I’ve enjoyed in a lot of bourbon cask Highland Parks but it is rather lovely anyway. Can’t believe this apparently hung around for more than two years. Well, the price may have had something to do with that.

Rating: 88 points.