Highland Park 12 Year

Deep into my second bottle I've had for myself so I felt it was time to give it a write. Nose: Honey, apricot and black plum, sweet cereal, wine-flavored pipe tobacco (really, I promise, even if it is just the faintest finishing note) Palate: Much more straightforward than you may imagine but not at all in a bad way. Sweet caramel apples, a smoky funk I'd call mainly meaty with hints of engine oil hints you midway into a burst of sweet, chewy, malty, richness of cream/cereal finish. I normally try to stay succinct in this section but it really is astoundingly fun to lip-smack, sip, pound, whatever. "Tasty" does not do it justice. Finish: Bodied enough to deserve the word 'complex' but so well-married you wouldnt know it if you were a n00b to brown town. That itself is impressive, as is the clean and short smooth finish itself is comprised of. Incredible under $40usd IMO. I will note for you deep readers that this bottle was not as good as the one I had before this. It had different packaging ever so slightly. The one I drank before was 4.5 alllllll day, this one gets 4. Main reason is body on older one was SO much more distinctive and charactered. WOOD, stone fruit, enticing hints and notes from BOTH in ways the newer bottle WISHED it had. I try to be very strict in points past 3.5/5 so to me the 0.5 is a big deal in a world where we ignore cost. Cost considered it's a whatever. if you need a bottle that tastes like $100 but dont wanna spend: buy it!!!!

Side by side tasting with 18yr. 12 may be more flavourful, but bites and has a nose like rubbing alcohol.

Nose is very nice, very subtle palate almost vanilla