Highland Park 12 Year Old – OB – 40%

Continuing my series of self purchased, standard range drams, let’s take a focus on Highland Park’s entry level whisky… a well priced dram from a much loved distillery!

Colour: Light gold. I’m reliably told that HP don’t use any colouring in their whiskies, good to know!

Nose: A friendly sweet malt greets you with hints of peat, honey and heather. We’re talking a dry mainland (or Orkney) type of peat here, not the Islay type of coastal iodine peat, it’s a much gentler beastie. There’s hints of dry spice, grass / hay, oak and liquorice.

Palate: Follows on nicely from the nose, more of the same… It’s smooth and sweet (partly due to the lower abv), there’s a musty peat there in there giving it a slight vegetal note. There’s late summer fresh cut hay, a wee bit of coffee grouts, and some spices after a while.

Finish: Slightly tingly and packed with taste, not the longest finish ever but it sticks around for a good while with it’s sweet late summer fruit notes and whiffs of smokey peat.

Water: Didn’t bother, doesn’t need any!

Thoughts: My wife says “Oo, I quite like the smell of that”. That’s a big vote of confidence for this dram! (She’s not a whisky drinker, doesn’t like it). It doesn’t suffer too much from the lowest possible abv, but the geek in me wonders just how much better this would be if it were non chill-filtered with it’s extra oils and flavours. As it is it’s a tasty, available and very much likeable dram! In these days of less age stated whiskies this shines as a 12yo at it’s price and it worth having on your shelf for when mates are over. 86.

Further Info: Some other countries have this at 43%, lucky them!

Available: The Green Welly Stop – £28

My own stock.