TL:DR: Training wheels level of peat, but not a bad bottle nonetheless especially if you like sherried drams
Vote*: 6, Good stuff
*Votes are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
As the first beginner’s peated whisky, I am reviewing the Highland Park 12 Viking Honour, a widely distributed bottle with, in theory, a gentle peat presence. Before the “Viking” rebranding in 2017, the Highland Park 12 used to be a regular on my shelf. It was a good, affordable bottle and I hope the new version does not disappoint.
Before getting to the review (or if you prefer skip to the review here) I am taking the Highland Park 12 as an example of Scotch whisky marketing and why it should be taken with some healthy scepticism. I am not choosing this whisky randomly. Their brand history I started discovering when I first encountered Highland Park 12 really sucked me in. Images of a remote Orkney distillery, opened back in the late 1790s, still malting and kilning their barley played with my heartstrings to give a romantic vision of a small remote artisanal distiller. I work in marketing so I should have known better. Yet, even as someone in this profession, I wanted to believe that image that I had formed in my mind.
Whisky Marketing: gilding the lily
Once my natural scepticism kicked in and I started some healthy fact-checking, things turned out to be slightly exaggerated. Highland Park might be the northernmost distillery in Scotland, in hard to reach Orkney, but small and artisanal it is not. It is the 10th largest Single Malt distillery in Scotland by sales. The 1798 founding date you see on the bottle stopper is wishful thinking at best. The first license for the distillery that is now Highland Park was actually in 1826. The 1798 date refers to the first documented illegal distilling in the area, but connecting this directly with the distillery is questionable.
The malting and kilning part is true, in part, but nonetheless impressive to me. About 20% of the total malt used, the peated component, is produced in-house, with locally sourced peat, while the rest is sourced. All things being equal, Highland Park remains an impressive distillery story, that stays so even when you remove the hyperbole.
I want to be clear that I am not singling out Highland Park, they are one of many who use a similar marketing template in Scotch whisky, or alcoholic beverages in general for the matter. Nor am I annoyed about this. It is part and parcel of creating a brand by selling its history and legacy. Stories fascinate us, capture us, build a connection to a brand and ultimately create an often exaggerated identity. This is just a word to the wise, and myself, to remain sceptical when we hear manufactured stories of where our favourite drink comes from. Most of all to remind myself that even without these embellishments whisky remains a fascinating beverage in its own right
Highland Park 12 Viking Honour
Specs
Price paid: 39.90 €
Lot/bottled date: 09/08/2022
ABV: 40%
Natural colour: Yes (stated on the back label)
Non-chill filtered: Not stated but unlikely
Casks used: Predominantly European and American Sherry butts. Probably with a small proportion (some claim no more than 10%) of ex-Bourbon refill casks.
Tasting notes
Colour: Rich coppery gold
Aromas: Oodles of sherry notes. There is orange peel, fruitcake, a little cocoa and a whiff of sulphury spent matchstick. Behind the sherried notes, there are aromas of honey, sea breeze and finally just a hint of woody and slightly medicinal peat. The nose is not extremely powerful but it has a decent complexity for a 40% entry level whisky.
Taste: Quite thin mouthfeel. A sweet, honeyed hit to start. Then peat, more evident on the plate. The sweet fruitcake spices and orange are noticeable as well as some malt and oaky bitterness. Quite simple but not flat or boring.
Finish: The finish starts quite oaky and bitter then turns more citrusy (orange) and sweet. Not very long.
How does it behave with a drop of water? Water dimms this dram down to a sweet, orangey and slightly sherried drink with just a touch of ashy smoke. Better without any water.
Conclusions
Going into this review of the Highland Park 12 Viking Honour I had two questions. The first, as stated in my previous post, was to see if this whisky could make a good introductory dram for new whisky drinkers exploring peat. The second, more implicit, was if it would live up to the memory I had of it pre-rebranding.
After sampling the Highland Park 12, and spending some time with it, neither question has a clear answer. The peat level is extremely low so I don’t feel this would be an ideal dram to introduce peat, maybe more the right whisky for those who dislike heavy peat, to understand it can be pleasant in small doses.
As far as the comparison with the older 12 year old goes, in my memory, the old one had a little extra. And yet that could be a case of rose-tinted glasses or less experience, although I am not the only one thinking something has changed post re-branding, check the link from Malt Reviews below for another opinion.
The consensus is that the product has changed and I found two theories for why. One is that Edrington is not able to source the same quality of sherry casks it used to, but I tend to doubt this considering their market share. It would make much more sense for this to be true for smaller players struggling to compete with the big guys. The second, and the one that I suspect is the true cause, is that Highland Park used to add small amounts (or top-dress) of older selected stock to their whiskies to give them some extra finesse, something which has apparently stopped after the rebranding.
In the end, though, I did find an answer to a question I didn’t know I still had. Neither the Auchentoshan 12 nor the Aberlour 12 hit the spot as an entry level sherried dram in my opinion. The Highland Park 12 does and by quite a measure. Even at 40% and (probably) chill-filtered, this is still a decent dram and one that should make new whisky drinkers happy.
I always find it interesting, after writing my tasting notes, to look at other opinions. Here are a few other reviews of the Highland Park 12 year old I enjoyed:
And an intriguing comparison between the old and the new Highland Park 12 from Malt Review
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