From a recent Highland Park to a 50 year old version of the same product. It would have been a cleaner comparison to do a 12 vs 12 but given the 10 year old was produced as a cheaper version of the 12 (in my opinion) this does still fit.

The distillery is currently owned by Edrington and interestingly enough the distillery was also owned by the same company when this bottle was put into glass in the 1980’s.

One of the most defining features of this style of bottle is the screen printed label. Screen printing isn’t something you see often (ever?) on whisky bottles today. In the 80’s though this was the height of modern branding. Screen printing means the label is printed directly onto the bottle using a method of stencilling to apply the various colours and build up the final image.

Normally we go into detail on the distillery and the contents of the bottle. If you do want to know more about Highland Park I have various articles at: Highland Park

Instead though I thought I would compile together three separate tasting notes. A 12 year old I tried a couple of years ago, the 10 year old from last time and then this 12 year old bottle all put together in a single page.

10 Year Old – Viking

Colour	Pale Yellow
Nose	A touch of heather, cardamum pods and a tiny touch of oak
Palate	Feels like the watering down to 40% is doing this no favours. Marmalade and toast, a sweet kids orange squash
Finish	short and sweet

12 Year Old – Pre Viking bottle

Colour	yellow
Nose	earthy and leafy nose with a fruity zesty overcoat
Palate	really nice weight in the mouth. fruit cake sweet developing a subtle smoke but prolonged bitterness. Blood oranges as you hold it in the mouth. Letting it sit in the glass the sweet only increases
Finish	The finish lasts a long long time. The smoke is very subtle but it lingers on and on and on. Great stuff

12 Year Old – 1980’s

Colour	orange
Nose	candied fruit peel, a touch of residual smoke you might get on your clothes sitting at a camp fire. Overall very sweet
Palate	Sweet orange juice, a little mint and little bit of pepper
Finish	orange zest gives a bit of zing and prickle on the tongue

Where can I buy?

A new section now is a standard block which will contain affiliate links where I have them to help keep the site going.

Master of Malt – Highland Park 12 Year Old – 1980’s

Whisky Exchange – https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/12365/highland-park-12-year-old-bot1980s

Final Thoughts

The 10 has a lot more modern spirit influence with the older 12 being very orange and sherry influenced. The sample I had has spent 5 years in a mini jar and 30 odd plus years in glass before that. Perhaps some of the mellowness has come from all that time corked/screwed in glass but it’s a mellowed dram none the less.

My notes from pre 2017 12 though sound pretty awesome, at £75 odd to get a bottle of that era that might be a good use of a few quid by the sounds of a younger version of me.