Highland Park 18 won one of our most toughly contested first round matches against fellow Island giant Talisker 18. On first tasting I considered describing it as half seawater, half dishwater, but found it grew on me fast. I ended up describing it as “Savoury, almost herbal. Leafy, grassy. Deeply complicated. Beautifully poised. Lots going on. A long and smoky ending, but heather camp-fire rather than roaring furnace. A respected academic, suede patches on the elbows, lounging cross-legged in his leather wing chair, considering the arguments of his hapless students and then, steeple-fingered, demolishing them with an off-hand line … Pour me another you suede-patched mastermind.”