Still, scoffing at sub-$40 whisky is what gets you called “The ScotchSnob” around here (like I haven’t heard that one before), so Recommended it is!Ībout The DistilleryThe most northerly distillery in Scotland (although Scapa is only a kilometer to the southwest), Highland Park is located on the distant Orkney Islands, off the northeast coast of the Scottish mainland.
However, I don’t think the 12-year is quite worth $10 more. If the 12-year were still the same price, I would probably still choose it over the Magnus. To answer the question posed above, you “get” a better-balanced malt with less bitterness and arguably more fruit, although it lacks those nice orange peel and orange blossom notes from the HP12. I wouldn’t pay more than $40 US for it, but I might snatch up another bottle if it drops to $30. With few off notes and little complexity, it sits confidently in the middle of its “value malt” price category. It is, however, well-balanced and the gentlest possible introduction to peated single malt for the newcomer. Overall: This is very similar to the Highland Park 12 year, but with less orange, less peat, and more lemon. The palate seems softer, with a bit more malt. With Water: Several drops of water brings out a Lemon Pledge note – turning citrus peels into citrus-scented cleanser. The citrus peel returns, along with some bitter barrel tannin and rosewater. Very slightly acrid – charcoal maybe.įinish: Long ish. Somewhat sweet on the tongue – shortbread or biscuits. Sweet, light, and with only an echo of floral Orkney peat. Deeper in the glass there’s a nice juicy tangerine note. Nose: Gentle peat, light lemon and orange peel. You pay the same amount that you’re used to paying, and you lose the 12-year age statement and 3% ABV. Magnus seems to be priced where Highland Park 12 used to be priced ($33 – $40 US), with the age-stated whisky now retailing for $42 to $50. It doesn’t say if it’s chill-filtered, which means it probably is, especially at 40% ABV. The result is bottled at an anemic (and very un-Viking) 40% ABV, with no added coloring. Some refill casks are also used, but the distillery says the sherry-seasoned casks are a “high percentage” of the vatting. This is becoming pretty standard practice in the scotch whisky industry, since nobody drinks actual sherry these days and real sherry barrels are hard to come by. Before you ask, that just means they took regular old ex-bourbon casks and sloshed some sherry around in them for a few months. Like the rest of the line, Magnus is partly peated and partly aged in “sherry seasoned” American oak casks. Enter Magnus, the new entry-level NAS malt from Highland Park. Unfortunately, the Highland Park 12 suffers for the comparison – it is a little more bitter and a little “ rougher” (in terms of off-flavors) than comparably-priced Islay malts.
A little of this, a little of that… I’ve said before that their Highland Park 12 year is a good introduction for single malt noobs who aren’t sure they’re ready for the full-blast peat of Islay whiskies. Highland Park is known for “partly” or “half” -peated single malts with a bit of sherry influence.
Ok, now that I’ve made my requisite “make fun of the marketing blather on the label” joke, we can move on to the whisky. Enjoy a whisky crafted in the old way by a new generation of Vikings.” Cute marketing, bros, but I doubt that your Viking ancestors would have approved of their Akvavit being served at a watery 40% ABV. Highland Park Magnus “…bears the soul of our Viking ancestors, and the name of just one: our founder, Magnus Eunson. I’m going to start with a quote from the back of the bottle (which – aside – is annoying black glass that makes it 100% impossible to determine how much is left in the bottle.
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