Highland Park 18 Year Old - Viking Pride

Nose: dried meat, musty whisky warehouse, rum, leather. Palate: leathery, gingersnaps. Medium finish, smoke emerges on palate as does a generic sweetness. A few drops of water mellows out the meatiness. This whisky had such an odd balance and was just so-so. I much prefer the NAS whisky in the Viking Pride range (Svein, Valkyrie, Einar, etc.), as well as the 12yo.

6th October 2019

Bought a bottle from the Whiskey Shop at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Came back and opened it but the cork was brittle and crumbled. Was also disappointed with the testing that was a bit off with a yeasty sour aftertaste. Loved Highland Park whiskeys but they should have stuck to making the great whiskeys instead of hyping up the marketing to leverage on their reputation.

21st August 2019

Very much overhyped and not worth £100!! Maybe I haven't asked previous versions of this but it really is nothing special at the price point. Wouldn't turn it down but won't be adding this to my shelf. Maybe HP should invest more money in their whisky rather than fancy bottles and giving their whisky daft names.

23rd July 2019

Good without being great.

26th May 2019

I need to find someone to send to USA

5th January 2019

After 10 minutes in the glass, you gave a very nice smocky caramel smell and a hint of Wood. On the palate, again, the attack is very sweet with caramel notes and a gentle smock, but then, the final comes very woody and you have this bitterness that stays quiet a long minute. Considering the price, I will not pay this much for a whisky not perfectly balanced.

9th December 2018

The Glengoyne 18 is nowhere near as good. I'm drinking them side by side right now in fact. The HP contains older whiskies than 18, it is evident from the smoothness and refinement. The 18 Glengoyne isn't rounded and is all heavy vanilla wood and sugar. The 18 Glengoyne is good, but it's 30 quid cheaper for good reason.

17th November 2018

My review is for the previous bottling of HP 18. It is sublime and marvelous. Don't know about this new one though.

17th November 2018

£106 for an 18 year old is ridiculous!!Glengoyne 18 is £33 cheaper and just as good!!

28th October 2018

This used to be one of my 'go to' whiskies. I was never without a bottle on my shelf.

Firstly, the whisky seems to have changed. It's still fruity and it still goes from sweet to dry which is the HP signature, but it used to have a definite hint of smoke which was missing in the last bottle I had. It also tasted younger to me. Which ties in with what an earlier reviewer said about it having older whiskies in the blend in the past.

I think other reviewers who have given it 5 stars and claimed people giving it low scores are trolls just need to try more whisky. As for scores of 99/100 on distiller. That sites not really for serious whisky aficionados and it's based on the old HP18 from 5 years ago. Straight off the top of my head I could name a dozen single malts that are better and cheaper than HP18 of 2018.

20th September 2018

It's a lovely whisky and certainly one I would recommend if the price allowed it. Taking the price into account, there are whiskies of equal quality and taste for far less. Taking the cost/value into account, I can't give this whisky more then 1,5 stars.

11th September 2018

Overpriced stuff.
Yes it is a good whisky and I would recommend trying but wouldn’t pay £110 for it.

6th August 2018

A truly great Scotch Whisky. Those people giving low scores would be better advised to try garage distilled vodkas perhaps.

18th July 2018

Was expecting something more, don’t get me wrong - good tasting whiskey but did not blow me away.

17th March 2018

The top rating whisky of all time on Distiller, with 99/100. The votes here of 2.5/5 are from trolls.

9th March 2018

I tried HP 18 five or so years ago and enjoyed it. It’s not in my top five, but it was still worth the price at that time at 4/5 or maybe even 4.5/5. Now, the price has went up and the packaging has changed. I was thinking about giving it another go, but I want the same quality as the old stuff or better, especially for the extra cash. If anyone knows for sure or has tried both versions recently, please post a review. For now, I’ll just grab another bottle of either Glenlivet 15, 18, 21, or Macallan 18. Cheers.

1st March 2018

Not sure about this one. On the one hand - it is a very good whisky. On the other, I think I liked the old 12 a bit better than the "viking pride". That's why I'd only recommend it if one does not care about price at all. That said - for the price - there are much better options out there. And if one wants to taste a good HP - I'd recommend looking for the old version of the 12 or, better yet, the old 18.

16th February 2018

I'm told that it is not the same single malt of the older bottling. Something about the older one containing some 40 yr old in a blend. Is this true? If it is not the same malt the price is way out of whack!

24th November 2017

One of my all time favourites 🥃

30th October 2017