Highland Park 2003, 16yo TWE exclusive

I try to get the most out of whisky samples. I often purchase samples of special releases, and one of those was this Highland Park 2003 vintage, 16 years old, aged in a European sherry butt No. 1885. It was bottled at 58.9% with a beautiful deep red color, made solely for the online merchants "The Whisky Exchange". On the nose, it's quite intricate. Coffee beans and a strawberry drink are the initial scents. Hazelnut, milk chocolate, and the most incredible Tiramisu dessert aroma I've ever encountered, surpassing even the Glenmorangie Signet. The tiramisu creaminess is present. After the first taste, the red fruits dominate. A "Crunch" chocolate bar flavor. There's an amazing maraschino cherry smell with a hint of pepper that emerges. Fantastic. The aroma is rich with chocolate and cherries. On the palate: Wow, this is intense. Begins with a strong red fruit flavor. Wine-like. Intense Pepper. It has some tartness. A third taste clarified the profile. Chocolate, tart prunes, and ginger. Aftertaste is good. Sulfur and salt. Some chocolate notes, very pleasing. Red wine. Tobacco. Not a trace of smoke, nor that heather-like peat typical of Highland Park. It's like hard mint candy. This one leans sweeter, with hardly any peat. Hints of an earthy taste. It's very dry, a little grassy as well. Overall, it doesn't feel like a Highland Park. It's more akin to an Edradour; in fact, if I had tasted it blind, Edradour would have been my guess for this spirit. It's an excellent whisky, but it's also a bit unrefined. I enjoy Cask Strength single malts, but high-strength Highland Parks have never been my preference, even though this one doesn't taste like a Highland Park at all. My rating for it is a solid, well-earned 89 out of 100.