Highland Park 15 Year Viking Heart

Vanilla and light peat. Not a lot going on, but enjoyable.

As a traditional fan of HP that’s been put off more recently, I’m always intrigued by new releases from this distillery. The white ceramic bottle works for me, and the flavor profile is quite enjoyable. True to marketing, this one brings pineapple, honey, cinnamon, and mild peat. Really enjoyable on that front. 44% is where this one falls down a rung. Not much of a nose and a fairly short thin finish. Thankfully, I have a solution to that: 1) Get yourself a Highland Park Cask Strength 2) Blend a bit of that with this here 15 year 3) Enjoy the best of both worlds in a dram that just got way more oily and intense, while retaining the initial flavor profile of the 15 3.75 on its own 4.5 blended with the CS

I'm a huge fan of HP, particularly 18, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this. I especially love the look of the white bottle. Let's dive in! Nose: Delicious and rich. Honey, honey, and honey. Some citrus notes hiding in there as well, maybe some lemon and grapefruit. Just a hint of some leather and sea salt. I'm not getting much peat or smoke on the nose. Interesting there's some sweet spiciness as well like sassafras. Palate: Incredibly smooth with a lovely creamy mouthfeel. I'm going to have to spend some time with this one to sort out what's going on... Vanilla, honey, dark chocolate, and some spice, particularly black pepper. Some sea salt and smoke emerges, true to HP form. Tannins tickle the sides of the tongue begging me to pay attention to the finish. Finish: Long and chewy. Delicious bitter mild smoke with the tingling lingering on the sides of the tongue. There's honey sweetness that hangs around as well providing a fantastic balance to the overall flavour. In summary this is a fantastic whisky. I did a quick taste a couple week ago against HP 18 and it's not quite as good but still absolutely fantastic, especially for the price point. Definitely get a bottle.

Top 2 Highland Parks. Honestly. 18, than this. What a brilliantly balanced exercise in smoke, vanilla and wood. I am so pleased that Viking Heart 15 is in my life. You will be too!

Classic HP, honey, citrus with a touch of smoke. All Heart !