I find the peat flavors in the new version stronger, while there are sherry flavors in the HP 12. Still, the flavors, layers and coherence are all more pronounced in the old version, though this difference can be chalked up to the difference in proofs. The VH has also retained some of the all-roundedness from its previous iteration. Score: 5/10 Conclusionsįor a spirit with sherry influence in it, I’m happy that the sulfur notes are negligible in both versions, for me at least. After those come undertones of cloves, toffee, milk chocolate, butterscotch and mocha. This combination lasts until the end, where it suddenly gets peppery. There’s a mix: mild notes of sultanas, banana syrup, apple juice, honey and muscovado syrup. It is mild and lasts the whole time but tones down throughout the tasting. In the mouth: Unlike on the nose, I instantly get sulfur. After that, everything suddenly falls off. There are mild scents of sulfur next, undertones of cloves, toffee, honey and banana syrup. Would this be heather? They’re followed by mild scents of apples, sandpapered wood, starfruit, pears and dried apricots. On the nose: I get a weak scent of peat and something leathery, dry and floral. Bits of sulfur appear again, followed by undertones of sultanas and burnt caramel. Amidst the bitter notes are patiently alternating undertones of toffee, butterscotch, mocha and chocolate. In the mouth: I get a quick taste of sulfur followed by lingering pepperiness, orange peels, cloves and cinnamon. The bitter scents like cloves and burnt caramel appear at the end. Slightly stronger scents of honey, orange peel, orange jelly, vanilla and cinnamon come through next. I get weak scents of toffee, mocha and chocolate with a very quick appearance of sulfur. This old style distillery bottling is available from SharedPour for $79.99. It isn’t a perfect comparison, though, as the previous iteration has a higher ABV. Viking Honour (VH)? I don’t see the honour in parading the diluted and chopped-up corpse of this formerly quality single malt, so I’m going to compare the previous iteration of Highland Park 12 with the Highland Park 12 Viking Honour.

I’m not going to waste anymore time on this. If he were alive today and saw what Edrington has done with the brand, though, I bet he would take back his praise. I quite loved the HP 18, too, so I used to agree with MJ’s statement. Based on memory, I thought this showed a great balance of peat, sherry and highland-ish flavors.

The previous iteration of the HP 12 was one of my favorite single malts when I was very new to getting serious with whisky. Michael Jackson once claimed this single malt to be the greatest all-rounder in the world of malt whisky. I’m quite surprised they haven’t hired Kathryn Winnick and/or Travis Fimmel to help with the marketing. A lot of us, regardless of how often we drink, want to have bottles to show off on our shelves or when we are out drinking.Īs one who is cynical towards the big boys, one brand I find extremely guilty of this is HP, with their Viking rebranding. Sadly, this tactic works most of the time. A more learned drinker who chooses quality over prestige will see through these charades. A lot of brands, especially liquor brands, often employ this technique, though exceptions exist like Compass Box. The “bigger the car the smaller the penis” comes to mind. I’m one of those who believe that fancy packaging usually means the producer is trying to make the customer pay more attention to the packaging than to the product itself. In fact, the five most recent HP reviews have all been from Jason. I can understand my co-contributors’ lack of trying, as Edrington has made most (if not all) of their original bottlings dubious for the well-informed drinker.

It’s been a while since there’s been a review of Highland Park (HP) on Malt.

Highland park valknut reviews