Hi everyone,
Today I’ve got some Viking-y whisky designed by Vikings for Vikings and… um, Vikings!
Yes, its Highland Park.
I used to be a big fan but the officials have been releasing lots of random NAS expressions (WTF does Dragon Legend mean anyway?!) while a load more indies have suddenly popped up as well as single casks that people seem to be dropping lots of money on.
Highland Park Dragon Legend 43.1%
Colour: Light Amber
Body: Medium
Nose: Sweet! Sherry, raisin, some malt, no smoke, a little heather though maybe, honey, syrupy, golden syrup.
Taste: Soft, lacking power and abv, some weak Sherry tones, raisin, honey, a little heather. Screams Sherry finish to me. Not much development of flavour on the palate.
Finish: Medium length. More Sherry, more raisin, more honey and heather.
Thanks to my mate Mike for this sample. An exclusive for Tesco in the UK. Weak release from HP. Very average IMO. On my blind YouTube review I guessed that this was Glengoyne 10, but really it tasted younger than that.
66/100
Highland Park 2003 Single Cask 58.1%
Colour: Amber
Body: Full
Nose: Sherry and spice and all things nice. Ginger and honey come off straight away, intense old style oak, dark chocolate, black coffee, coca cola and heather, fig, raisin, prune and date. Oh and liquorice.
Water: More balance and complexity with cherry, more fruit and singed heather.
Taste: Intense, dry, old oak, dark chocolate, heather, cola, black pepper and ginger spice, lots of super dark dried fruit, raisin and blackcurrant.
Water: Softer, not as sharp, orange marmalade and cherry.
Finish: Medium/Long length. Blackcurrant, coca cola, dry oak and singed heather.
Bottled 2018 for Scottish Independent Bars at 15yo. 1st fill European Oak Sherry Hogshead. But there's only so dark you want your whisky! And this is very dark. The blackcurrant note is nice on the taste and it has a great nose but it left me wanting a little more from it, more smoke and more complexity from the taste, not just loads of dark sweetness.
79/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Reviews #718-#719
Whisky Network Reviews #856-#857
Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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