Highland Park 12 Years

Details about this bottle Edit
97
Highland Park
Scotland, Islands
Single Malt Whisky
12 Years
40%
0.7 l
Original bottling
Bourbon, Sherry, Sherry, Sherry Refill
Chill filtration - With
Average tasting notes Tasting notes
Calculated from 651 Tasting Notes
i
Nosing
Peat Smoke:
Sweet:
Sherry:
Herbs:
Fruit:
Heather:
Honey:
Malt:
Oak:
Spices:
Vanilla:
Zitrus:
Caramel:
Nuts:
Floral:
Orange:
Bonfire Smoke:
Maritime Notes:
Herb:
Pear:
Seaweed:
Dried Fruit:
Apple:
Green Apple:
Medicinal Smoke:
Lemon:
Cherry:
Grass:
Peach:
Chocolate:
Fig:
Pineapple:
Almonds:
Alcohol:
Tobacco:
Banana:
Pepper:
Raisin:
Date:
Clove:
Ham:
Dark Chocolate:
Iodine:
Leather:
Salt:
Hay:
Oil:
Plum:
Berries:
Lemon Peel:
Mint:
Cake:
Tropical Fruit:
Chili:
Kiwi:
Blackberry:
Hazelnut:
Grapefruit:
Ginger:
Nutmeg:
Strawberry:
Tasting
Peat Smoke:
Sweet:
Sherry:
Spices:
Malt:
Oak:
Honey:
Herbs:
Fruit:
Heather:
Nuts:
Zitrus:
Vanilla:
Maritime Notes:
Oil:
Herb:
Bonfire Smoke:
Caramel:
Seaweed:
Chili:
Orange:
Pepper:
Salt:
Chocolate:
Dark Chocolate:
Floral:
Dried Fruit:
Ham:
Alcohol:
Grass:
Cherry:
Peach:
Cake:
Lemon:
Leather:
Medicinal Smoke:
Coffee:
Pineapple:
Plum:
Apple:
Mint:
Almonds:
Hazelnut:
Raisin:
Barley:
Tobacco:
Blackberry:
Nutmeg:
Grapefruit:
Berries:
Banana:
Cinnamon:
Clove:
Walnut:
Ginger:
Date:
Strawberry:
Finish
Peat Smoke:
Oak:
Sweet:
Spices:
Herbs:
Heather:
Malt:
Sherry:
Fruit:
Herb:
Honey:
Nuts:
Dark Chocolate:
Zitrus:
Bonfire Smoke:
Oil:
Maritime Notes:
Caramel:
Pepper:
Chocolate:
Vanilla:
Orange:
Leather:
Seaweed:
Floral:
Alcohol:
Chili:
Tobacco:
Salt:
Coffee:
Raisin:
Ham:
Dried Fruit:
Walnut:
Pear:
Almonds:
Grass:
Cake:
Lemon:
Iodine:
Green Apple:
Cinnamon:
Clove:
Apple:
Grape:
Plum:
Nutmeg:
Ginger:
Lime:
Fig:

Quality rating of this bottle

3.9 Rate
1,169
Tasting Notes 647

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28. Jun 2014
TheGreatMothra
16. Apr 2016
Nosing:
Sherry Peat Smoke Sweet Orange Chocolate Honey Spices
The nose is immediately sherry driven, with a light smokiness in the background. There are savoury spice notes (cardamom?) and a chocolatey/cocoa note also.

Taste:
Peat Smoke Sherry Lemon Spices Honey Oak
Sweet sherry arrival with citrus and spice. The smokiness is quite noticeable but not nearly as strong as Islay malts. There's a significant oakiness and maybe a little saltiness towards the finish.

Finish:
Oak Spices
Medium length with spicy oak and very slightly bitter.

Comment:
I don't know if its just my taste in whisky changing, but I don't think this is quite as good as I remember it in the past. The nose is very pretty and quite complex, but I remember the finish being better. Its still pretty consistent though and one of the reliable mid smokiness options out there, and the price is right as always.
TheGreatMothra
06. Apr 2018
Nosing: Zitrus Peat Smoke
The nose on this is initially quite muted but asserts itself after sitting for 5 mins or so. The nose is fresh with citrus fruit, lemon and grapefruit and floral components. There is some background musty peat smoke but nothing overpowering.

Taste: Malt Salt Sweet Peat Smoke
Medium sweet arrival, middle of the road intensity. Savoury and salty. Peat smoke kicks in on the back end.


Finish: Peat Smoke Pepper Ham
The peat smoke kicks in more on the back end, not as overpowering as your traditional islay malt. Black Pepper. It has a savoury meaty quality to it also.

Comment:
I hadn't tried the HP 12 since its rebranding and don't be fooled, it is a completely different beast. It has far less sherry influence than the old release and presents itself more like a quarter peated islay malt. The nose is fine, but lacking the richness HP used to have. The palate is good, but doesn't have a lot of character, still has the saltiness that I remember. Peated malts usually cover this sort of thing up with a preponderance of smoke, but this doesn't have it. The smokiness only really kicks in in the last third. I actually think the finish on this is quite good, it has that classic spicy finish still, but with a great deal more peat smoke than it used to have. I reckon it could have been a lot better at higher percentage, but with their official bottlings HP is going for the volume play. At least it is reflected in the price. I picked up a bottle at the supermarket for under 30 quid. Good job too though, I don't think the changes they made to it are positive overall.

Rating of article "Highland Park 12Y Viking Honour - 40% - 0.7l"

29. Feb 2012
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02. Nov 2017
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17. Sep 2013
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02. Sep 2014