96-100 points: Wine Enthusiast
"Opening aromas are of sea breeze, cigar smoke, oak and malted barley; air contact releases light caramel, fudge, cocoa bean, burnt candle wick and heather. Entry is the most complex of any whisky; midpalate soars on oak, spirit and grain tastes. The greatest distilled spirit of this generation. Buy whatever you can find."
 
94 points- Whisky Advocate
"An exemplary Highland Park. There's certainly plenty of sherry influence in this whisky and it is complementary. (About 2/3 of the whisky was aged on sherry casks, and a lot of these casks were second fill.) The whisky enjoys a delicious foundation of toffee, fruit (lemon, plum, blueberries) and dark chocolate. It continues to develop and evolve on the palate, with emerging notes of heather, nougat, lavender, delicate peat and complex dried spice (especially cinnamon and nutmeg) to balance the sweeter notes. The extra alcohol is also a bonus, providing a drying balance to the whisky's sweetness. Whiskies like this one remind me why I fell in love with whisky in the first place."