Islands · 12 Year Old · 40%
Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour (with glass)
£39.99Was £46.99
Save £7.00 (14%)
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Islands · 12 Year Old · 40%
£39.99Was £46.99
Save £7.00 (14%)
In stock
Buy now checks out this bottle on its own. Anything already in your basket stays there.
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If you could only keep one bottle to show what Scotch whisky can do, Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour would be a strong choice. It sits perfectly between styles: honeyed sweetness, rich sherry-cask fruitcake, bright orange peel and a soft wisp of heathery peat smoke. It’s not too sweet, not too smoky, just beautifully balanced.
Made on Orkney, off the far north coast of Scotland, it is one of the most respected 12 year old single malts in the world, and a fantastic introduction to gently smoky whisky. This pack also includes a glass, so it’s ready to give or to enjoy straight away.
Part of Highland Park’s malted barley is dried over hand-cut peat from Hobbister Moor on Orkney. Because Orkney has so few trees, its peat is made mostly of ancient heather. When it burns, it gives an aromatic, floral smoke that is softer and sweeter than the medicinal peat smoke of Islay.
The 12 Year Old is matured mainly in European and American oak casks seasoned with sherry. These casks bring rich dried fruit, fruitcake, warming spice and Seville orange, which wrap around the gentle smoke and heather honey.
That combination of honey, sherry and light peat is what makes Highland Park 12 so loved. It has enough depth to satisfy experienced whisky drinkers, but it is smooth and approachable enough for newcomers too.
Heather honey and coastal notes, with orange peel and rich fruitcake.
Honeyed sweetness, Seville orange and fruitcake spice, with soft, aromatic peat and gentle oak.
Oak and citrus, with a gentle wisp of heathery smoke and lingering sweetness.
Think honey drizzled over a slice of Christmas cake, enjoyed beside a heather fire. It’s a cosy, warming whisky, perfect for autumn and winter evenings.
Pour a measure into a nosing glass and give it a minute. Neat is the best way to taste the balance of honey, sherry and smoke.
A few drops of water soften the spice and bring the honey and orange forward.
Its gentle smoke makes it a great base for a Rob Roy or a Scotch Old Fashioned with a twist of orange.
Try it with smoked salmon, roast lamb, a cheese board with oatcakes, dark chocolate or Christmas cake.
Orkney was ruled by Norway for hundreds of years, and its Viking heritage runs deep. Highland Park celebrates that history across its core range, with each bottle given a Norse-inspired name. The 12 Year Old became Viking Honour as part of a range redesign in 2017, alongside the 10 Year Old Viking Scars, the 15 Year Old Viking Heart and the 18 Year Old Viking Pride. The bottle’s embossed design draws on Viking-style carving.
Highland Park’s story begins in 1798 with Magnus Eunson, a local butcher and church officer who was also an illicit distiller and whisky smuggler. He was caught distilling illegally on the site that year, and the distillery later took out its official licence in 1826.
Despite its name, Highland Park is not in the Scottish Highlands. It stands in Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, on an area of land once known as “High Park”. It is often called Scotland’s northernmost single malt distillery.
Highland Park is one of the few distilleries that still turns some of its own barley by hand on traditional malting floors. That barley is dried over its own Hobbister Moor peat, giving the whisky its signature aromatic smoke.
Since 1979, Highland Park has been owned by Edrington, which also owns The Macallan. Its 25 Year Old was the first spirit to receive a perfect 100-point score at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge.
If you like Highland Park 12’s mix of sherry sweetness and gentle smoke, these single malts take a similar approach:
For more ideas, read our guide to the 10 best single malt Scotch whiskies to buy in 2026.
Lightly. It has a gentle, heathery peat smoke balanced by honey and sherry sweetness, much softer than most Islay whiskies.
No. Despite the name, it is made on Orkney and grouped with the Scottish Islands region. The name comes from the “High Park” area of Kirkwall.
Mainly sherry-seasoned European and American oak casks.
It is the name given to the 12 Year Old in Highland Park’s 2017 range redesign, celebrating Orkney’s Norse heritage.
Highland Park 12 is gentler and sweeter, with more sherry influence. Valfather is smokier, bottled at 47% and made from refill casks.
Yes. Its balance of sweetness and soft smoke makes it a great first step into peated whisky.
A 70cl bottle of Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour and a glass.
Highland Park is owned by Edrington, the same company that owns The Macallan.
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