Highland Park 12 YO (bottled early 1990s)

Highland Park 12 YO (bottled early 1990s), 43 %

I am lucky to have friends who love to buy exciting whiskies. I am really looking forward to tasting this 12 YO Highland Park bottled in the early 1990s.

A couple of weeks ago I gave you my tasting notes on the Highland Park 10 YO and the current 12 YO from Highland Park. Let us find out how this old one compares to the new one.

This whisky was bottled probably early 1990s for Remy Italia. It comes in a 70 cl bottle. Most of the other bottlings I have seen in this Dumpy bottling series comes in 75 og 100 cl bottles. A reader pointed out the bottle had to be early 1990s because of the size (I had first written early 1980s). I now have secure information saying the change from 75 cl to 70 cl bottles happened in 1993 due to the EU wanting to standardise the size of the bottles as there were too many sizes. The USA still use 75 cl bottles.

I guess it is needless to say this bottle is only available on auction.

Nose (22/25): Sweet, smooth and rich. Peaches and Earl Grey. A hint of liquorice. A gentle spiciness makes it warm on the nose. After a while I got the smell of old books. Maybe it is the old bottle effect?

Taste (22/25): Smooth and rich. Peaches and liquorice. A gentle smoke is lurking in the background. Clean.

Finish (21/25): Rich and lingering in the end. The spiciness dominates. Both pepper, ginger and nutmeg. Some oak makes it dry.

Balance (22/25): This was a nice surprise. Such a well balanced old Highland Park. It is interesting to find that I like this one better than the current 12 YO from Highland Park.

Score (87/100)

Thanks, Hasse!

- Tone