Highland Park Magnus

Highland Park is one of the best distilleries out there, that is a fact. Almost everything they do, WHICH IS A LOT, is well made. Since they belong to the same Group as Macallan, it is not surprising that they release 5 different expressions per second hahahaha. But, Macallan fails to be as consistent as Highland Park is. Highland Park Magnus is a wonderful whisky, not expensive at all and it has been matured in sherry oaks, which gave it a good complexity. Magnus refers to the Viking descendant, Magnus Eunson, the original founder of this distillery, who was a smuggler in the beggining and only when the excisemen discovered the distillery in 1798 it became the established date for Highland Park. Bottled at 40%abv, amber color. On the nose: Smoke, Plums, raisins, mint, dehydrated fruits, vaping smoke, very floral, heather. After first sip it gave me sea salt, dulce de leche and rum and raisins ice cream. Great. On the palate, it is wonderful and sulphuric. Sulphur, salt, smoke, meat which has been overly seasoned with salt. The "bite" on this dram is wonderful, such and experience. Ashy. Aftertaste mantains the peatiness: smoke, pepper, cigarrettes, coal and ashes. Overall this is a very balanced dram. The best part is the palate, which is the hardest thing to achieve when crafting whisky. It is usually the nose where i believe most whisky score the points, and the palate is sometimes a simple transition to aftertaste. This is not the case, Highland Park Magnus has a great palate, with a great bite (if you love peat that is). My score for it is a balanced 23 points in every aspect, for an overall score 92 over 100.

I normally love Highland Park... but I don't know about this one. Seems slightly better than average, at best. The nose is pretty potent. Smells like this is going to be a hard hitter. The taste is dominated by a soft, rounded peat smoke. Its not intrusive. Sweetness is there, but its not as big a player as in Highland Park 12 year. Oddly enough, I taste some red fruit peeking its head through toward the middle of the taste, perhaps from the sherry cask? This one isn't too complex, unlike most of Highland Park's other offerings. Its fine, but its not great. My honest two cents? Buy a bottle of 12 year instead, its well worth it. But if you ever tasted Highland Park 12 year and thought to yourself: " Well, this is fine, but I really wish all I tasted was light peat with a background of sweetness," then this might be the whiskey for you.

I really like the 12 year and this has a lot in common. That said the 12 is far superior imo. Poured neat, nose is citrus and smoke with some decent tang to it. There is good malt and wood notes as well. Palate is more malt with light sherried smoke, barrel and mild spice. It does have the HP rubbery resin vibe with sweaty funk like the 12 but its restricted imo. I guess that makes sense as they dont want this to outshine the 12. Finish is good and long with the smoky citrus, malt, wood and char carrying on. Flavors are not very deep but are rich enough to keep interest. This is a good solid scotch but comes down to price when comparing to the 12 year. If its within $10 the 12 is the clear winner for me. If the gap widens this becomes much more intriguing.....86/100

I’ll be honest, this is the first highland park I have tried. I have heard great things about them. Let’s see what it’s about. The nose is bright and a little sweet with citrus (orange and some lemon), hint of dried apricot, light malt and peat. The palate is sweet and juicy with citrus, light apple, vanilla, malt, some pear, and lightly toasted almonds and a hint of some jalapeño pepper spice on the back of the palate. The finish has lingering vanilla and malt. The spiciness on the back of the palate continues until the end of a medium finish. A nice refreshing whiskey with some interesting aromas, I just wish it was a higher abv.

Nose - pineapple, vanilla cream, orange and lemon zest, honey, grass, mild peat, rotting wood, rubber band, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sour apple, salted toffee, orange creamsicle, chocolate, tannic oak, honey, grass, mild peat smoke, citrus zest, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with bitter wood, sour fruit, and toffee flavors. This is much less enjoyable than the 12 year. You can definitely taste the influence from the bourbon barrels, particularly with the caramel and vanilla notes. While there are some nice flavors here, they are overwhelmed by a sourness and bitterness that dominate the palate.

Grabbed this hoping it to be similar to the beautiful 12 year age statement, it’s not…but It is good at what it does. Nose is pleasant and soft, lemon and orange with a light smokiness. Palate brings more citrus notes with vanilla. The peaty flavour makes a stronger appearance here. The mouthful is soft and not very oily. I was expecting this to be more complex like it’s siblings from HP. It’s not bad in any means, but this is the first time I can say a bottle from this distillery is simple. Enjoyable, but I won’t be restocking.