It rained recently. My ash tray effuses a damp toasty tobacco smell. As I marinate in the earth's sweat, I stare at this bottle ornate with drawings of ancient Norwegians.
We are tasting Highland Park 12 Viking Honour today.
A reminder for those reading through, this blog is by amateurs for amateurs, a more down to earth and relatable experience than the high flung expert tastings we commonly find online and on the back of bottles. Something you can rely on to make decisions about which scotch you want in your cabinet.
This is Scott Van Schyndel's pick. To join him are Trevor Wallace, Simon Savard, and Kyle Rasksen. Sean Laffan provided tasting notes a few days prior. Andy Plomp on the call, drinking the exquisite Labatt Blue.
Everyone is agreeing on the nose here, a candied/caramel apple smell, Scott dares to call it toffee, and he's not sure whether it's more fruity or floral. Sean gets peat on the nose, with vanilla.
We dig in, we pick up on a tad of smoke, with spice and fruity sweetness. The spice isn't overwhelming but it is tongue numbing, which Scott doesn't enjoy. Feels like you might be missing out on something.
There's hints of lemony citrus a few of us pick up on.
Simon calls it spicy apple pie.
The experts mention honey notes, which we also pick up once brought up.
We like it, the flavors aren't overpowering, it's pretty balanced. It's also on the low range of fancy scotch prices, which makes it easy to justify. We have Scott and Trevor with 70s, Simon with 73, and Kyle/Sean with 80s on this one, which averages to a 74.6. Slightly above our average.
At $70C this is a bottle we recommend for beginners. Affordable, balanced, approachable, flavorful.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew
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