The entry level bottling from Scotland's most northerly distillery, Highland Park, aged for 12 years. This is an older design, before the Highland Park range underwent a rebrand in 2017, and another in 2024. A fab find for a retro collection.
These bottles were part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
Like the review "Don't Forget Old Friends" of Sept.12, 2014, I too, have come back to Highland Park 12. Highland Park was the first Scotch that I really liked (loved). But it became my quest to try the best of the best from all the regions of Scotch, trying to see if there was one that grabbed me . .. one that I would fall in love with and keep buying as my favorite dram, no matter the price. I love the Islays with their peat and smoke; love the sherried malts with their sweetness (but must have a little peat and smoke with that sweetness). There are some outstanding examples of these flavours but the very best example of all these characteristics put together is Highland Park 12. I have spent (and wasted) big bucks on single malts, while HP still remains very affordable. So I came back . . . to stay! It is truly the malt that I love above all the rest . .. even the much higher priced Islays. I too, see no need to search any further. Highland Park 12. A near perfect Scotch Whisky!
This the best value HP as the 18 and 21 years olds are now ridiculously overpriced. It has a dry finish that comes as a surprise as the arrival is sweet Sherry. There is just the right amount of peat and smoke for my taste, but Islay peatheads will find it lacking. I hope HP can maintain quality that has been variable in the recent past. At its best it is a great dram from Orkney.
For a long time a staple in my whisky cabinet, this HP is currently £25 on offer in my local supermarket and often can be found at or around this price. Given its perfect balance of heather honey sweetness and subtle wiff of something between smoke and the salty sea that comes on the finish, along with a clean smooth feel on the throat (as opposed to so many harsh , spicy whiskies that I have in my collection at 3 or 4 times the price of this), I defy anyone to suggest a better malt for the money.
I was sold by the smoky flavor notes but the deal-breaker for me was the "aromatic peat". No big deal though, this is how we find our way through the wonderful land of whisky. So many of them out there, so little time.
HP12 was the whiskey that opened up the world of single Malts to me some 5 years ago. When I first tried it, in a moment I realized that all of the chivas, jw black, and glenlivet that I had once considered good fell into a separate category of sub par whiskey. Immediately hooked, I have, over the years, sampled most of the tried and true classics, finding my own personal palate at home best with the peat, smoke, brine of Malts like lagavulin 16, Talisker 10, and Ardbeg oogie. After years of always trying something new, I just bought a bottle of 2014 hp12, only to realize how much I have missed this old friend. Perfectly balanced in ever way, setting itself above all others except for the lag and the Talisker, which are higher priced and hard to beat in their class. Great whiskey in every way. Per Michael Jackson: The Greatest all-rounder in the wold of malt whisky. Definitely in an island style, but combining all the elements of a classic single malt: smokiness, with its own heather-honey acen); maltiness; smoothness; depth, roundness and fullness of flavour; and length of finish - lovely any time.
