Highland Park 15 yo?

Nope, HP15 is not intermediate between the 12 and the 18, not the bottles I've sampled from anyway. HP15 has the heaviest sherry of the three, by far. Take a taste and tell us what you observe, please.

Truly, it is a little weird, but there is no noticeable progress in these three going from 12 to 15 to 18.

Erratum: read "progression" in the last line, please.

Check out this good summary of the 3: scotchhobbyist.com/2009/11/…

The differences in cask type and composition are explained.

The HP 16 is a duty free bottling at 40%. IMO, it's a dud. The 12 is better and the 18 is a lot better. Have yet to try the 15. From what @ Victor is saying, it sounds like it is a bit of a deviant from the usual HP profile, but worth a try nonetheless.

@BlueNote, yes HP15 is worth a try, but I suggest a dram before buying a bottle. I do enjoy the 15, but much prefer the 18.

Thanks, @Victor. Always a pleasure to get your very informed opinions.

And thanks to @valuwhisky for another website to bookmark! Based on this review, and on Victor's comments, it sounds good -- but one that I would indeed like to try before I buy. Or maybe I'll take a chance on a bottle once I've filled my cabinet with my wishlist whiskies.

Personally I do not write reviews for the fact that I'm not quite articulate enough to express the flavours of the whisky that I'm enjoying...

With that said - the Highland Park 15 yr does appear to have the "ugly stepchild" label attached to it (courtesy of the fact that it spends much of it's maturation in American White Oak vs Spanish Oak that the 12, and 18 yr spend time in).

HP's Gerry Tosh on YouTube discussing the 15 yr - www.youtube.com/watch

@Victor To be honest I do not sense the 15 yr as having a more sherried note, but possibly a more floral/dry note?..I do agree it def takes a different path when compared to the 12, and 18 yr expressions.

My palate isn't as experienced as yours so I could be way off here...Either way I really enjoy the 15 yr; for roughly $60 to $65 it's a decent value.

@FMichael It's about $50-55 here while 18 is $95-105, so half the price. I like it but it is definitely a defferent finish than the 12 and 18. Not better or worse than the 12, just different. And not much more than the 12 in price. It definitely has a place in my cabinet, but I also have the 12 and 18.

The 15 is probably my favourite of the regular (affordable end) range - I agree that it's not so much of a sherried note and more floral. Tropical fruit rather than dried/sticky fruit.

It's also, iirc, disappearing in certain markets after being only available in travel retail. It's not going away everywhere (I think it's staying in the USA) but will be increasingly hard to find soon.

@Taco I agree with ya about the 12 yr, 15 yr, and 18 yr Highland Park range; all will find a place in my cabinet...The 18 yr is $88 by me; a really good deal!