🥃 Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour
Base version of Highland Park: 12 years, 40 % ABV; sherry-seasoned European and American oak; the name Viking Honour dates from 2017.
Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour is the base version of the single malt Scotch whisky Highland Park from the Orkney Islands. Its strength is 40 % ABV and its age is at least 12 years. According to Difford's Guide, the distillery began its own bottlings with the 12-year-old in 1979.
The whisky matures mainly in European and American oak casks seasoned with sherry. Part of the barley malt is dried over local heather peat, so the smoke is light. In 2017 the expression received the name Viking Honour and a new embossed bottle with motifs of a Norwegian stave church; according to SLTN, the whisky itself was not changed.
Why this matters to you. This is the starting point of the brand. Compare it with Highland Park 15 Year Old Viking Heart, which has more first-fill sherry casks and 44 % ABV, and with Highland Park 18 Year Old Viking Pride, which matures for longer. The age on the label is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. The WHO reminds us: there is no safe dose of alcohol.
Facts
| Alcohol (% vol.) | 40 % ABV (according to Difford's Guide) |
|---|---|
| Minimum maturation | 12 years (age of the youngest whisky) |
| Cask type | mainly European and American oak, seasoned with sherry |
| Raw material | barley malt, part of it dried over peat smoke |
| Year founded | 1979, the first 12-year-old bottling of the distillery; name Viking Honour, 2017 |
| Legal basis | Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2890), Single Malt Scotch Whisky |
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour → affects → 🍷 Alcohol and health ← affects ← 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Packed in
- 🍷 Sherry
- Made from
- 🥃 Barley and malt in whisky
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Part of
- 🥃 Highland Park, 🥃 Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 🥃 Scotch Whisky, 🥃 Highland whisky
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Peated whisky, 🥃 The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old, 🥃 Highland Park 15 Year Old Viking Heart, 🥃 Highland Park 15 Year Old Viking Heart, 🥃 Highland Park Cask Strength, 🥃 Highland Park Cask Strength
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that Viking Honour is a new whisky, not the old Highland Park 12?
No. The name and bottle were changed in 2017, but according to SLTN the profile of the whisky itself stayed the same.
What is the strength of Highland Park 12 Viking Honour?
40 % ABV, according to Difford's Guide.
Is Highland Park 12 smoky?
Moderately: part of the malt is dried over heather peat, so the smoke is gentle and much weaker than in whisky from Islay.
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🥃 Barley and malt in whisky — Malted barley is the base of whisky: malt enzymes convert starch in the mash, and EU whisky is distilled below 94.8% vol.
- 🥃 Peated whisky — Whisky with a smoky aroma from malt dried over a peat fire; it is a style, not a separate legal category.
- 🥃 The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old — 12-year-old single malt Scotch from Macallan Double Cask; 40% ABV; European and American oak seasoned with sherry.
- 🍷 Drunk driving — Never drive after drinking wine: alcohol slows your reactions.
Similar
🥃 Highland Park 18 Year Old Viking Pride · 🥃 Highland Park 15 Year Old Viking Heart · 🥃 Highland Park Cask Strength · 🥃 Ledaig 18 Year Old · 🥃 Ledaig 10 Year Old · 🥃 Glen Garioch 12 Years Old
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
Sources
- Difford's Guide: Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour (40 %, sherry seasoned European and American oak, first 12 YO bottling 1979, Viking Honour 2017)
- SLTN: Malt underlines its Viking roots (11.05.2017; 12 YO Viking Honour, 18 YO Viking Pride, new packaging, whisky profile unchanged)
- The Whiskey Wash: Highland Park debuts new Viking influenced Scotch whiskies (28.04.2017; core range renamed Viking Honour and Viking Pride)
- Scotchwhisky.com (Whiskypedia): Highland Park (Kirkwall, 1798; 20 % own peated malt; 100 % sherry casks since 2004)
- The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2890), reg. 3: definition and categories of Scotch Whisky
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)
Also listed under
- SpiritsWhiskyScotch WhiskyHighland whisky
- SpiritsWhiskyScotch WhiskyHighland Park
- SpiritsWhiskyScotch Whisky
- SpiritsWhiskyHighland Park