Highland Park 15 Year

Reviewing 33 open bottles from my collection, ranked through several blind tastings. Counting them down! #17: Highland Park. Single Malt Scotch. 43% ABV. 15 years old. Cost $90 I'm convinced Highland Park once had the most refined core range of age statement whiskies before they went off the rails. While the 15 year old offers poor value for money, I'll still buy another bottle to add to my collection of discontinued releases. I can still easily find the 15 year old where I am. This isn't just an older, more complex version of the 12 or a younger counterpart to the 18. While the 18 is the spiritual big brother to the 12; the 15 is the awkward middle child. It's lighter and more approachable due to aging in American oak sherry casks instead of European oak. Notes of red apples, red licorice, powdered sugar, and dough. Vanilla wood and just a whisper of Orkney's heathery peat. Even without a direct comparison, this is likely as good as the old Highland Park 12, which is still available for about half the price, making it difficult to justify buying many bottles of the HP 15. Moreover, for an additional $20-50, you can acquire the legendary HP 18, which is well worth the extra cost. Still, the HP 15 is an engaging and quite enjoyable curiosity. As general advice, grab the older bottlings of Highland Park. Their new, overly elaborate bottle designs with tattoo art are like a certain famous athlete – you're not fooling anyone into thinking you're tough just because of the ink. I could understand Laphroaig embracing a Viking theme, but Highland Park? MARK: 88/100 PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED: #18: Glendronach. $59 (1L). 43%. 12 years. 87/100 #19: Ledaig. $60. 46.3%. 10 years. 87/100 #20: Longmorn. $94. 48%. 16 years. 87/100 #21: Maker’s Mark 46. $35 (375mL). 47%. No Age Statement. 87/100 #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. $104. 45%. No Age Statement. 87/100 #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. No Age Statement. 86/100.

Up to this point, all my experiences with Highland Park have been after the Viking re-branding, which, while visually appealing, is a bit quirky. This review will go back in time to explore an HP expression that has been discontinued. Before its discontinuation, HP had increased this bottling from 40% to 43% ABV. This particular bottle is at 43%. Nose: Initially, the peat was imperceptible. However, when compared to two unpeated sherry cask malts, the peat became distinct. I'd describe it as a subtle peaty aroma, with emphasis on subtlety. The most noticeable notes are lime and vanilla, along with some honey. It also exhibits floral, grassy, leafy characteristics, and evokes orchard fruits. A light oakiness and some sherry sweetness round it out. Quite pleasant, though I wish it were slightly more potent. Revisiting with a new bottle a few years later, I'm detecting lime, orange, and plum. Palate: Intense vanilla, followed by plum, orange peel, and lime. A blend of sherry and citrus notes, complemented by faint salt, smoke, and oak spice. A very mild cinnamon warmth emerges at the end. Hints of walnut and caramel. Surprisingly viscous and rich. Finish: Short to moderate. Cinnamon and oak spice give way to sherry sweetness. Overall, I'm pleased to have found one of these. It was the last one available at the store and the first I'd ever seen there. I rate this a 4. It's incredibly enjoyable and works well as a slow sipper or a background whisky. There's much to appreciate here. This one truly hits all the right notes. Regardless of the marketing efforts, I'm focused on the whisky itself. You could call it the 'HP 15 Viking Soul' and package it with over-the-top Nordic designs; if this expression makes a comeback, I'll be among the first in line.

I was gifted this bottle over five years ago and saved it for a special occasion, knowing it was being discontinued. After defending my dissertation, I opened both this and a Macallan 17Y in celebration. There was no comparison; this was the far superior Scotch and one of the best I've had. Before this year, I'd never had peated Scotch, then I jumped right into the deep end with Ardbeg 10. I love that Scotch, but I really think the milder peated Scotch hits every note just right. This and Talisker 10Y are the best examples I've tried. The nose is a beautiful sherried peat, not overwhelming at all like a heavily peated Scotch. It is somewhat sweet, with a little citrus zest, maybe orange? It is drier on the taste, the oak and sherry stand out while the peat is more muted than I expected from nosing. I also get a little brine, but not nearly as much as other coastal or island Scotch. The wood lingers on the finish, as it is surprisingly oily and lasts long. Although it was aged in toasted barrels, not charred, I can't quite tell where that makes a difference. I would not say this is an overtly complex Scotch, but the flavors mesh together so well that it's highly drinkable. It's a shame you cannot find it regularly, if at all these days, but it's possible one of their current releases is similar to this.

Ah, the compromised legacy of Highland Park. Long before the current NAS issue, which is still unfolding unsatisfactorily, they had a strong core range. I had imagined this distillery as legendary, but sadly corrupted by aimless NAS releases. While there were many NAS bottlings, my top two out of a dozen HPs I've sampled were Fire and Ice, interestingly enough. I still have Light and Dark to try, which are reportedly excellent, so perhaps my complaints about a corrupted legacy aren't entirely accurate... though all four of those are outrageously priced, even some with age statements, so there's some truth there. However, setting that aside, after those particular drams, the standard 12 and 15 year olds seem rather uninspired and tame, lacking any real punch, if you'll pardon the pun. Apparently, the age statement lineup was a marketing strategy, as this was released for the travel retail market, leading me to question what came before this age statement range. Regardless, this is a straightforward, sweet, lightly smoked, pleasant, and well-balanced dram, nothing more, nothing less. A solid 3.5.

Nose - Vibrant notes of red berries like cherries and strawberries, a touch of goji berry sweetness, honey, subtle fruit smoke, and black tea. Taste - Lacking body, with thin fruity floral honey, dried cherries and strawberries, black pepper spice, a hint of dry fruit wood smoke, subtle black tea bitterness and wet tobacco, tellicherry peppercorns, and a slight salinity. Finish - A lingering mild medicinal sweetness of goji berries, sweet spicy tellicherry peppercorn, and gentle smoke reminiscent of a campfire that burned fruitwood. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This is a remarkably balanced lightly peated Scotch. It possesses all the qualities I appreciate, with a complex harmony of sweetness and gentle smoke that invites another sip. It's not an everyday drink, as one needs to be in the right mood for peated Scotch, at least I do. I believe it's best enjoyed neat or with a tiny bit of water; ice might diminish the subtle smoke and brine, but I haven't explored that yet.

Acquired on 4/9/18. Finished on 4/11/19. Highland Park Original Bottling 15 years old 43% ABV Bottled in 2014 Cost: 90 USD This whisky, the understated middle expression in Highland Park's once-regarded core lineup, is for individuals who favor mellow, understated single malts. It presents as very floral and sweet at first, but also possesses a robust coastal character. Lightly spiced and lightly smoked, you'll find the 15 year old less assertive than the forward 12 year old; and less full-bodied than the delightful 18 year old. Its lack of distinction was likely the reason it was the first of the trio to be discontinued. It's a pleasant dram, but a passive one. It is more polished than the 12 year old, but not definitively superior. And at nearly double the price, that's a drawback. I will ensure I have a few bottles of the recently discontinued 12 and 18 year olds put aside, but I will decline to repurchase this 15 year old. Score (excluding price): 85 / 100 Purchase value (including price): 3 / 5