DrRHCMadden
Highland Park 12 Year Viking Honour
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
October 8, 2022 (edited October 9, 2022)
N: wonderfully gentle but luscious almost creamy profile. Fresh, crisp. Full whack of honey with juicy grassy and stewed pear notes. Honey is balanced so it doesn’t reach a sickly or sticky sweetness. A very subtle citrus adds vibrancy.
P: honeyed malt is crisp and toasty and wafted along on the most delicate herbaceous and perfume like peat smoke. Light citrus with slight clove spice is deep in the layers of flavour that keep unravelling. A full and velvety chocolate mouthfeel is a perfect vessel for the delivery. Delicious.
F: Long. Warming bakery spice, light raspberry jam. A little mouthwatering and demanding of more.
Truly excellent. It seems the Islands are on a tear with me. Skye, Arran, Orkney; bringing the goods. Whilst I think the heat on this is a little harsh the depths of flavour, layering of the profile, and overall quality of the spirit is exceptional for a
95.99
AUD
per
Bottle
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@cascode that’s dangerous information to share. Between the Lore, T8, Arran Argonne and the impromptu win of a Port Charlotte CC:01 in auction last night I think I’ve had my whisky spend through to March! Haha. I’ll be sticking to free tastings from Dan Murphy’s for a while; I managed to knock out 10 tastings the other night (and spammed them on here!) excellent stuff. I’ll bookmark those sites for future Robert to look at!
@DrRHCMadden If you don't want to wait till June both Vintage Direct and The Drink Society have most of the current range available at prices the same as duty free, or just a smidge higher. SMWhisky in Vctoria (Ian is a great guy) has the 18 year old for a very good price right now.
HP is a perennial favourite distillery of mine and one to which I keep returning (both their expressions and to the distillery itself!). I wouldn't go so far as to say I've never had a bad Highland Park, but for me the distillate profile is one of the half-dozen best out of all Scotch whisky. The 10 and this 12 year old are both crazy good value, as are several of the current NAS statements. Agree too that Talisker and Arran are both right up there.
@cascode I think the first HP I had was the new 18yO, several years ago, and before I even vaguely knew what I was doing with whisky. Have had a bottle of 12 In the past, two even. But this was the first time I’ve sat with it and thought about it. I fear I wasted my early drunk bottles. I think the difference between this 12 and the 25 I have open currently is remarkable, such a great change. When I go through duty free next (June!) I will try and get a couple of the travel retail exclusives I think…