Highland Park 12 Viking Honour
Like whisky? Like Vikings? Well, here’s a dram for you. I like whisky obviously, but personally I’m rather apathetic toward Vikings. But if you do like Vikings…
Highland Park, the northernmost distillery in Scotland, has gone all out with its marketing over the last few years to make sure we all know about its Viking heritage. Well, not really Highland Park’s Viking heritage, but Orkney’s heritage, the island where HP resides. And that’s all well and good, but it always sets off alarm bells for me when the marketing of whisky becomes too heavy handed. And these Vikings have got some damm big meathooks. Lots of new NAS expressions. Lots of overpriced “limited” expressions. And lots of vikings. Not really a combination that appeals to me personally. Anytime the emphasis on marketing is strong, you wonder if the emphasis on the product’s quality is no longer top concern, whether it’s whisky or razor blades.
I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of Highland Park in general, even before the recent turn toward Vikings. It’s a single malt that’s never really stood out to me. You’ll hear people talk about how HP 12 year is a good beginner’s whisky, and sure, I’ll grant that to a certain extent. But isn’t that rather damning praise? If something is a good beginner’s whisky, doesn’t that imply that it’s not really that good once you’ve experienced other drams? And if we really want to make a beginner fall in love with whisky, shouldn’t we introduce them to the drams that we continue to drink even when we’re no longer beginners?
When I first started drinking single malts, yes, I did drink HP 12 occasionally. It was part of my rotation alongside the likes of the 12 year olds from Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Aberlour, and others, as well as Grand Old Parr 12, a blended scotch. And for a while, I was perfectly happy drinking those drams… until one day I tried Ardbeg 10 and my life changed forever. But that’s irrelevant here I suppose, other than to point out that for me, the whisky that really made me love single malts as a beginner was Ardbeg. I still drink Ardbeg 10 regularly. Those other malts I mentioned? Not so much.
In many ways I feel like I still am a whisky beginner, regardless of how long I’ve been enjoying whisky or how many different single malts I’ve tried. There’s still so much to learn and so many whiskies to try—although I’d like to note that I’ve decided that I am now officially a Level 666 Whisky Sommelier ?. But… even when I was first starting to drink whisky, I found Highland Park to be merely solid at best, and that was when I’d barely experienced any single malts. And I guess that’s my point here. HP has always underwhelmed me. More on that in the review.
Highland Park 12 Review
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Highlands (Island)
Age: 12 years
ABV: 43%
Natural color
Nose
Honey, heather, and a little bit of gentle peat smoke. Fruity, apricot in particular. Dried tropical fruits too. Tobacco leaves. Perhaps just a touch of sherry. Enjoyable.
Palate
The first thing I notice is the thin and watery mouthfeel, which is unfortunate, although it is at least a touch oily. Flowery peat. Somewhat earthy. Mandarin oranges. Coffee and cream. Honey. A touch of dusty tobacco. Some sherry cask influence, a bit more so than on the nose. Unfortunately it seems to be tired, overused sherry casks. The flavors that are here are nice, but weak and lacking in depth. It’s fine and enjoyable enough, but nothing all that interesting. The low ABV probably hurts this whisky, although I don’t think ABV is the only issue. Tastes younger than 12 years, with hints of very young, immature malt still found.
Finish
Short and sweet. Bananas and other tropical fruits. Again with the honey and heather peat smoke. Again very mild. Fine for the fleeting moment it lasts, but not memorable.
Overall
This malt just leaves you thinking it could be so much more than it is. It tantalizes and teases, but ultimately underwhelms and disappoints. Is it bad? No. It has some nice flavors, flavors that I usually gravitate to in a malt. But the whole damn thing needs to be taken up a notch. It needs more depth. Every time I take a sip, I think my previous impression was wrong and this is actually very nice… but then the flavor fades and fails to really pop or develop. Ultimately the thin mouthfeel, lack of complexity, and short finish doom this dram to mediocrity.
It’s a perfectly OK whisky though, and therefore it gets a perfectly OK score. You could do worse for the price.
SCORE: 5/10
Final Thoughts
I just don’t really get Highland Park. The 18 year is good, at least it used to be (haven’t had the newer bottle since HP went all Viking on us), but the younger and NAS expressions just aren’t that great. They all just come across as weak. The NAS bottles are especially bad, even before the Vikings came.
So is this really a good beginner’s whisky? I don’t know. Maybe. It is reasonably priced, although I wish it were still under $50. But like I said in the intro, calling anything a “beginner’s” whisky is damning praise. I suppose you could give this to someone that’s never had whisky before and they might think it’s interesting. But in my opinion, I’d rather give a beginner something I actually drink regularly myself. Deanston 12 comes to mind. And while HP 12 may be reasonably priced, there are plenty of other malts in the same price range that hold far more depth and interest.
Buying Advice: Try it in a bar if you’ve never had Highland Park, but a full bottle purchase isn’t worth it unless you find it for less than $50—and even so I’d look at other whiskies first. Looking for a good character malt with a little bit of peat smoke? Go for Springbank 10 instead. Or a good sub-$50 single malt with loads of character? Try Craigellachie 13.
Bonus facts about Vikings: Did you know that Vikings didn’t actually wear horned helmets? The horns were just a European Christian fabrication to make them seem evil. Not surprising. Also Vikings were apparently known for their excellent hygiene. I guess they must’ve preferred their whisky neat (sorry).
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
