This is the old-school packaging featured in the picture but mine is 43% as opposed to the 40% listed here. Highland Park was already onto the Viking marketing thing by the time I first tried it, so I consider myself lucky to have found one of these old ones. As far as I’ve read, these were the glory days of HP. Nose: Plum, raisin, date, fig, and cranberry. Toffee, fudge, vanilla, and honey. Campfire smoke and sea salt. Toasted oak and almond. Lime and raspberry. Dried apricot. Great nose. Palate: Orange and toffee. Plum, raisin, date, and fig. Vanilla frosting and milk chocolate. Toasted almond and caramel. Butterscotch Sea salt and brine. Sun-dried tomato. Lime and celery. Oak and a touch of baking spice. Finish: Sun-dried tomato, milk chocolate, fudge. Dried apricot. Cranberry and raspberry. Toasted almond. Black bean, red pepper chili. Cinnamon and black pepper. Oak. Medium length. All in all, this is a fine whisky. Great nose, decent palate and finish. It’s a great middle-ground for the overall Scotch profile. Sherry, peat, an incredibly balanced set of notes, bottled at a standard age and ABV, 12 and 43 respectively. I recently wrote a review of Aberfeldy 12, in which I hailed it as a great beginner Scotch. This is also a great introduction to the genre, but in a different way. Instead of being an easy-going whisky that can be used to coax a new drinker to the style, this one gives you an idea of what you’re actually in for as a Scotch-drinker—representing the true median of the full range of Scottish whisky. And at that, it does a great job. It was $60, which was a bargain considering how old that this bottling had to have been considering the proof. 4/5.

Definitely on the rise to the ultimate 18 year but that's ca whole different ballgame.

Sweet~smoke,i just like that