Highland Park 12

I have to admit, when we were in Scotland and I tried this Scotch, I didn't think to much of it.  We actually tried to tour the Highland Park Distillery when we went to the Orkney Islands, but they were all booked up with tours from the tour boats.  I wasn't really too disappointed that we could not get in as we had already toured the Oban distillery, and I hadn't found this whisky too appealing. Highland Park is the only active distillery in the Orkneys, although Scapa, which was distilled there, is still being sold.  But, like I said, I had tried this, and didn't think much of it, so I did not really feel I was missing anything.

WHAT was I thinking!  "Look ma!  The bottle is empty!"  And so are three more bottles of this.  That is a pretty telling review of Highland Park Whisky.  This whisky is $75.00 a bottle in Manitoba, but when we were in Alberta we found that it was $45.00.  At $45.00 I was prepared to give it another try!

I have to admit that I was pretty astounded with this Scotch Whisky. It is very tasty, with a nice sweet "Scotch" taste.  There is a strong flavour that is sort of caramel, and sort of spicy.  I don't taste any smoke at all, but some people who I have served this to have said there is a little smoke.  But, what sets this apart from many others is the fact that it has virtually no alcohol taste or burn.  Even my beloved Quinta Ruban has a some obvious fire going on in every taste.  Highland Park has none that I taste.  It is just a good, mild, and not overly complicated Scotch, that still has some interesting flavours.  At this price point, it is a no brainer. By several bottles....they go fast.