Highland Park Freya

Freya, the goddess of love, lust and fertility, is also portrayed as a deity of war, since she has her own version of Valhalla, where half of the fallen viking warriors go when they die in battle. Freya is also the third expression of Highland Park's "Valhalla Collection", a 15yo whisky that promises the lust, love and war in a glass. Bottled at 51.2%abv, it comes with the now classic viking ship. On the nose, it is very good, although a little dim. Starts with green apple juice and pears, you almost feel that you have poured a Glenfiddich 12yo at the first aroma. Heather, stewed apples, white wine and a nice maritime note. After some sips, it changed into a wet vanilla cake, pineapple and fruity gas water. On the palate it is sheer perfection. Fruit punch, fruit salad and then a powerful spice flavor of ginger and clove. It is delicious. Macerated fruits. It has a cold feeling. Wine sangria fruits. Amazing. Aftertaste was the peaty part. Herbal, a warrior peat, a lip and tongue scorching feeling in a good way. Maritime with ginger notes, sider. Overall, this one accomplishes the mision. It offered a lusty, lovely dram, which traduces into the great, clean fruitiness to it; and it also offered me some war notes, that are heavily found on the finish: pleasantly spicy, peaty and scorching. The nose is where it lost some points, but this is a memorable single malt. My score for it is 96 over 100.

For 15 yr old, it's really impressive. Reminded me of a cross between the best well aged single pot still Irish but having the complexity of a scotch. The floral notes are followed by a sweet , spicy taste and a salty finish very typical of Highland Park. The key question---if you takeaway the fancy stand and the Viking marketing----is it worth its price tag considering it's only a 15 yr old? One of the few times I think it is----namely because you simply can't find this combination of floral, sweet, salty elsewhere

Some sensory experiences are difficult to articulate in terms germane to the other senses. The nise, the mouthfeel, the evolution of the taste over time: all these are like the sonority of a fine concert piano, or of a lover. Freya, goddess of love and war and Chief of the Valkyries, is the best possible namesake for this prepossessing, sensual dram. Don't be fooled into thinking that the age statement implies lack of polish or power. This bottle has pride of place on my shelf.

I finally get to try this! Highland Park is my favorite and Freya is no exception. I have a preference for the more heavily sherried like Odin but this might just be the best Bourbon aged whisky out there. Tropical fruit and light peat and it goes down surprisingly well considering the cask strength. 95

Tout un scotch, ce Freya! Des fleurs blanches, du sel, des biscuits sec, du citron et du pamplemousse, des huîtres avec une mignonette et un verre de vin blanc, des poires et des bananes, puis une fumée tourbée qui surplombe le tout. Hyper raffiné, soyeux, complexe et abouti. Major league stuff.

Wonderful. Smooth with a full mouth feel. Delicate floral notes transform into a warming spice before leaving you with the lasting earth of familiar peat.