Highland Park

highland-park-distillery

highland-park-12-year-old-viking-honour-whisky

History The distillery was founded in 1798, presumably by Magnus Eunson. The name of this whisky does not refer to the area of Scotland known as The Highlands, but rather to the fact that the distillery was founded on an area called ‘High Park’ distinguished from a lower area nearby. Highland Park is one of the few distilleries to malt its own barley, using locally cut peat from Hobbister Moor. The peat is then mixed with heather before being used as fuel. The malt is peated to a level of 20 parts per million phenol and then mixed with unpeated malt produced on the Scottish mainland. In 1984, Highland Park was the only whisky ever to have scored a rating of 100% by the regular tasting team of The Scotsman, a national newspaper of Scotland. Whisky reviewer Michael Jackson has called it “The greatest all-rounder in the world of malt whisky.”

The Whiskyphiles tasting notes

Official Bottling
  • highland-park-2005-1140-london-gatwick-wdf Highland Park 12 Year Old 2005 Single Cask Gatwick WDF (2018) - Absolutely delicious at full strength, massive impact and tonnes of flavour, a little water made this one quite peppery and still more brought out oak and some of the subtler flavours but we preferred it at full strength. 90/100
  • Highland Park 12 Years Old (2014) - Highland Park 12 Years Old (40%, OB, 2011) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery ABV: 40% Cost: £27.50 What they say: The expression that started it all for […]
  • highland-park-12-year-old-viking-honour-whisky Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour (2023) - Rich, malty and complex, there is a lovely sprinkle of sea salt which accentuates the flavours here, spiced heather honey adds to the thick malty backbone, the result is well-structured. 84/100
  • highland-park-14-year-old-loyalty-of-the-wolf Highland Park 14 Years Old Loyalty Of The Wolf (2018) - Highland Park 14 Years Old Loyalty Of The Wolf whisky review: Definitely sweeter than the Spirit Of The Bear expression this is sweet & buttery on the nose but becomes increasingly sour and bitter by the finish. 83/100
  • highland-park-15-year-old-whisky Highland Park 15 Years Old (2017) - Highland Park 15 Years Old (40%, OB, 2017) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery Bottling: Edrington ABV: 40% Cost: £80.29 What they say: 15 year old single malt […]
  • Highland-park-wings-of-the-eagle Highland Park 16 Years Old Wings Of The Eagle (2018) - Highland Park 16 Years Old Wings Of The Eagle whisky review: Much more established fruit flavour here, a lovely touch of cocoa, buttery smoke and almonds. I'm not sure why but to me Highland Park always seems to taste best when matured in European Sherry oak wood. 85/100
  • HP-18yo-bottle-pack Highland Park 18 Years Old (2015) - Highland Park 18 Years Old (43%, OB, 2015) Island single malt scotch whisky 43% ABV, £99 Score: 87/100 What they say: Considered by many whisky writers across the globe as the ‘industry’s […]
  • highland-park-21-year-old-whisky Highland Park 21 Years Old (2016) - Highland Park 21 Years Old (47.5%, OB, 2016) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery Bottling: Edrington ABV: 47.5% Cost: £142.72 What they say: Drawing its incredible character from […]
  • highland-park-dragon-legend-whisky Highland Park Dragon Legend (2018) - Floral Orcadian peat tempered by sherry-cask maturation results in a very drinkable Dragon Legend. 84/100
  • Highland-Park-Drakkar-single-malt-scotch-whisky Highland Park Drakkar (2013) - Yes even though it is a 1L bottle I expect to get through this quickly and I will always have room in my collection for this, lets hope HP continue to supply/release it... 79/100
  • HP-Freya Highland Park Freya (2014) - Highland Park 15 Years Old Freya (51.2%, OB, 2014) 51.2% ABV, £140 for 70cl Score: 91/100 What they say: For the third release in the acclaimed Valhalla Collection, Highland Park has turned […]
  • highland-park-hobbister-bottle Highland Park Hobbister (2016) - Highland Park Hobbister (51%, OB, 2016) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery Bottling: Edrington Distillery Exclusive ABV: 51% Cost: £75.00 What they say: Presented by Edrington’s Master Blender Gordon […]
  • Highland_Park__Loki Highland Park Loki (2014) - Highland Park 15 Years Old Loki (48.7%, OB, 2014) 48.7% ABV, £120 for 70cl Score: 87/100 What they say: (From Master of Malt) The second release in Highland Park’s Valhalla Collection following last […]
  • highland-park-spirit-of-the-bear 1 Highland Park Spirit Of The Bear (2018) - Highland Park Spirit Of The Bear whisky review: Smoky but gentle & easy going (not bold), lots of sweet fruits, vanilla and slightly drying and oaky. 77/100
  • HP-Thor-bottle-pack Highland Park Thor (2014) - Highland Park 16 Years Old Thor (52.1%, OB, 2014) 52.1% ABV, £120 for 70cl Score: 85/100 What they say: Highland Park Thor has a natural strength like its namesake, drawing influence from […]
Independent Bottling
Cadenhead
  • Highland Park 22 Years Old 1992 Sherry Cask (2015) - Highland Park 22 Years Old 1992 Sherry Cask (59.6%, Cadenheads, 234 Bottles, 2014) Island single malt scotch whisky 59.6% ABV £96 for 70cl Score: 84/100 What they say: Distilled at Highland Park […]
  • The Whiskyphiles Highland Park 22 Years Old Cadenheads Highland Park 22 Years Old 1992 Small Batch (2014) - Highland Park 22 Years Old 1992 Small Batch (59.7%, Cadenheads, Sherry Butt, 426 Bottles, 2014) 59.7% ABV, £85 for 70cl Score: 87/100 What they say: Highland Park 22yo 1992 – 2014 Sherry […]
  • highland-park-cadenheads-27-yo-1988-2015 Highland Park 27 Years Old 1988 Wine Cask (2016) - Highland Park 27 Years Old 1988 Wine Cask (53.3%, WM Cadenhead, Claret Finish, 234 Bottles, 2015) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery Bottling: Wm Cadenhead’s Wine Cask ABV: […]
Douglas Laing
  • Highland Park 28 Years Old 1984 Director’s Cut (2015) - Highland Park 28 Years Old 1984 Director’s Cut (48.5%, Douglas Laing, Cask #9968, 133 Bottles, 2013) Single malt scotch whisky 48.5% ABV, £230 for 70cl Score: 90/100 What they say: At this […]
Duncan Taylor
  • Highland Park 2003 Duncan Taylor Pre-Post-Octave Highland Park 2003 Post-Octave (2018) - Highland Park 2003 Post-Octave whisky review: Having taken an already superb whisky and finished it for presumably only a short period (of all the samples this appeared to have the least difference/increase in colour), sadly there is too much spice on the initial palate for me and I struggled to decide whether I liked this one more or less than the Pre-Octave sample. I guess I was hoping for more here which didn't come but this is still undeniably a good whisky. 87/100
  • Highland Park 2003 Duncan Taylor Pre-Post-Octave Highland Park 2003 Pre-Octave (2018) - Highland Park 2003 Pre-Octave whisky review: A simply beautiful Highland Park expression, the bourbon cask has imparted a delicious sweet creamy vanilla to counter the herbal smoke, surprisingly I didn't pick out much malt but it is there all along adding a lovely weight to this dram. A purists dream this one. 87/100
Gordon & MacPhail
  • G&M_Connoisseurs Choice_CS_Highland Park 2004 60.0 (20180222)_sml Highland Park 13 Years Old 2004 Connoisseurs Choice (2018) - Gordon & MacPhail's Highland Park 2004 Cask Strength Connoisseurs Choice Whisky Review: A flavour-packed expression from Gordon & MacPhail in their new Cask Strength Connoisseurs Choice range. I'd expect nothing less from a Highland Park matured in a first fill Sherry butt. The balance achieved is supreme, and the result highly drinkable even at 60% ABV. This expression was stuffed full of fresh and stewed fruits, the sherry influences lightly adding toffee, chocolate, tannin, leather and spices, and matched by sweetness, malt, and heathery peat and wood smoke. 88/100
  • Highland Park 1989 Connoisseurs Choice (2021) - Awesome, full of sherry and smoke, benefits from time and water too. Powerful sherry and sweet influence here but works really well. 91/100
Robert Graham
  • robertgraham1874_robertgraham_robertgrahamtreasurersselectionhighlandpark25yearold_1470411704RobertGrahamTreasurerSelectionHighlandParkAg Highland Park 25 Years Old Treasurer’s Selection (2018) - A deliciously aged expression from an ex-Bourbon cask with that odd waxy florality, tropical fruit and creamy vanilla with more than a hint of mint in here. Dessert-like on lots of levels. 88/100
Scotch Malt Whisky Society
  • SMWS 4.194 Lip-smacking and mouth-puckering (2015) - Highland Park 18 Years Old 1995 4.194 Lip-smacking and mouth-puckering (53.3%, SMWS, Refill Bourbon HH, 60 Bottles, 2014) Single malt scotch whisky 53.3% ABV, £71.70 Score: 87/100 What they say: Cask No. […]
  • SMWS-NLtasting 03/02/2015 SMWS 4.202 Salt and pepper (2015) - Highland Park 27 Years Old 1986 4.202 Salt and pepper (45.1%, SMWS, Refill HH, 261 Bottles, 2015) Island single malt scotch whisky 45.1% ABV, £126 Score: 86/100 What they say: Cask No. […]
  • SMWS 4.124 After hours SMWS 4.214 After hours (2015) - Highland Park 19 Years Old 1995 4.214 After hours (54.4%, SMWS, Bourbon HH, 235 Bottles, 2015) Category: Island single malt scotch whisky Origin: Highland Park Distillery Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask […]
That Boutique-y whisky company
  • whitlaw-15-batch-1 Whitlaw 15 Years Old Batch 1 (2021) - Yum, classic HP, very light initially. This one is all about the subtleties, wisps of heathery smoke and a sprinkle of smoked sea salt crystals! 85/100