Highland Park Viking Scars 10 Year Old & 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky Bundle Buy (2 x 700ml)

Bang for your buck, one of the surprise whiskies of the year!
Buy it with the 18 year old and save!

Highland Park's revamped core range comes complete with a new 'embossed' bottle look and colourful names paying homage to the island's Viking history. According to the distillery, "Magnus Eunson, who founded Highland Park in 1798, was a direct descendant of the early Viking pioneers who settled in Orkney. The Vikings left their mark on the landscape, the culture and the people. In fact, one in three islanders bears the Viking DNA."

'Viking Scars' 10 year old is a tribute to one of the nine noble virtues of the Vikings.

Tasting note: Expectations aren’t high when it comes to NAS and younger HPs. Viking Scars changes that. Sultry aromas of honey, tea biscuits, poached fruits and soft smoke defy the whisky's age. In the mouth, it's full-flavoured with light citrus and pear fruitiness overlaid by oily, maritime peat and honey glaze. Don’t look for big complexity, but texture-wise this is superb. Better than the current 12 year old and one of the surprise whiskies of the year. 40% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... No need to say that we like the fact that they did not drop the age statement, while wondering if they did not reach the limits of Vikingdom. Scars? What’s next, Viking Dishwasher? Nah, love them, really, it’s all a bit second-degree anyway, is it not. Is it? Colour: gold. Nose: no or very little sherry seasoning here, so it’s rather bright, showcasing the trademark heather honey and this mineral side that we always enjoyed. Salty beach rocks, shells, ripe apples and quinces, beach bonfire afar, honey drops, wallflowers (sublime!)… But I like this very much! Mouth: very good, very very good! Even the lower strength does not pose problems here. Perfect honey, lemons, salt, smoked shells, clay, oysters, grapefruits… Finish: medium, superbly fresh, complex, and fruity. Even more honey in the aftertaste, that is perfect. Comments: hey Orkney, we need a CS version of the very same juice! Fantastic interplay between the minerality, the honey and the citrus. Probably my favourite BFYB this month, although the month isn’t over yet.
90 points - Serge Valentin, whiskyfun.com

Reviews for Highland Park 18 Year Old...

Tasting note: Deep amber gold. A sophisticated sniff evoking nuances of dried fruits (fig, dates), honey, gristy malt and delicate brush strokes of sweet smoke. Later inhalations hint at waxy apple, orange spice cake, choc ripple cookie and cinnamon. After 5-10 minutes the nose drops off leaving dark chocolate and trace sulphur. Honeyed barley and sherry notes beautifully harmonise with earthy peat; the sweetness balanced by orange zest and a touch of salt...rebounds in the aftertaste. Almost full circle round the flavour wheel, and for that reason, one of the most quintessential of all Scotch single malts. Some tasters found the Sherry input slightly less than years gone by, but otherwise, about as good as it's been since the inaugural 1997. 43% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... Gentle peat, soft toffee, floral notes, and honey on the beautifully fragrant nose. Superbly balanced on the velvety palate, with brittle toffee, stewed fruits, peat, honey, and a hint of coffee. Smoke and more toffee mingle in the long, elegant finish. 94 points - maltadvocate.com, reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Spring 2012)

… Nose: An empty honey jar which once held peaty embers. An enormous nose which seems to improve with each bottle I sample, though the characterstic salted butter is always present. Fabulous. Palate: Beautifully sweet: even sweeter than the 12 year old with peat on the back of the palate. Beautifully chewy, oily and substantial. Finish: Still peaty and now a little oaky. Cocoa and toffee cream compexity. Comment: This has to be my favourite Highland Park of them all, and each new bottle I taste (this was my sixth sample) seems to underline the overall class and consistency of this distillery. Brilliant..
95.5 points - Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

...Copper. Rich roasted walnuts, caramel and spice on the nose. A soft, satiny entry leads to a dryish full-bodied palate of dried fruits, burnt caramel, peat, and heather. Finishes with a long fade of peat and honey with choice wood spice notes in support. Fantastically balanced. 95 points (Exceptional) - www.tastings.com

...An old favourite, haven’t try the 18 since a good six years though. Loved it in 2011 (WF 88). Colour: pale gold. Nose: so typically HP! There’s that heather honey that wasn’t quite to be found in the 15 and Valkyrie, more roundness, more dried fruits (figs, dates, pears, raisins) and earth rather than smoke. Orange blossom, dandelions, honeysuckle, and some nice whiffs of humus and garden peat. In short his baby’s more refined, and perhaps more civilised. Not quite Viking stuff this time, if you like. Mouth: indeed, a different world. Superb dried fruits mingled with some herbal syrup (Chartreuse, genepy, eucalyptus) and the expected honey, with a feeling of charred wood in the background. Rather a gentleman’s HP, if you will. Finish: medium, a tad rougher and grassier, but still quite wonderful. Ah our good old HP 18!… Comments: a little less fan of the finish, but Highland Park 18 years old remains a classy classic. 2016 tasting.
88 points - Serge Valentin, www.whiskyfun.com