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!
I'm new to Whisky but have tried quite a few lately and have started to understand what the fuss is about. This has a nice delicate smoke to it, not as powerful as an Ardbeg 10 but this does not detract, very nice introduction to smoky malts.
Basically the distillery had changed its focus from the 12 year old to the more profitable older aged malts. Last two years this has been awful, steer clear, is terrible how this whisky has declined.
Just opened a bottle, great for a 12 year old, has to be favourite 12.
In the last 4 years I must have drank about 10 bottles of this whiskey. This is one of my all time favorites and you will (most probably) not be disappointed either. I've been recommending this particular whiskey to all my friends since and they're all loving it. However, the last bottle I bought somewhere in 2013 was not good at all. At first I thought it was me, but drinking a few more glasses during the week I became more and more convinced there was actually something wrong with the whiskey. After reading up on it in Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible of 2013 - giving it a shocking 70-score only - ánd tasting a bottle I gave to a friend a year earlier, it was 100% confirmed that something went wrong with the whiskey that year. Because of this I have not bought one again since. Now a year has passed and I will try one again and hope it will be back to the quality it used to be. If it is, you simply cannot miss this one. Really.
The nose hinted at oak, heather, and smokey fire. Upon entry, it had an astringent quality with a light sweetness... kind of like cough syrup. This ultimately faded into a smoke bomb though with a malty sweetness in the background. I didn't care for it as it was and a splash of water didn't help. However, and I know it may be sacrilege to some, a 50/50 mix with 18 yo Glenmorangie REALLY turned into a phenomenal dram! Honestly! It toned down the smokieness and embraced a lot of the finer heather grilled fruit notes.
