Highland Park Dragon Legend

According to the team at HP the Dragon Legend bottling was inspired by Sigurd the dragon slayer who licked dragon’s blood from his thumb and was granted powers of wisdom and prophesy. I think perhaps the marketing push is trying to hard. For this release HP have focussed on their classic sherry seasoned European oak casks but put with a higher proportion of Orkney peated malt than normal. Hopefully this is a build on from last nights more intensely smoky Valkyrie… N: Initially full but soft with a developing complexity. A toasty wood mixes with nutty and feinty slightly sweaty notes. There is a mulchy to teabag like quality here too. The peat smoke builds but remains in the realm of woody and slightly herbal. Working really hard I can dig up the fruit sweetness and winey notes contributed by the sherry cask, but they are not stars of this show. Not my favourite HP nose, and a little too one dimensional compared to recent HP delights. P: Immediate presence of smoke, an earthy and slightly floral smoke that fills the mouth leaving room for strong black pepper and an oily texture. Malty-cereals come next and bring salted pork, sherry fruits of dates and cherry(?), and dehydrated lemon. Oiliness develops to slightly leathery or tobacco like. Pepper remains constant, smoke builds its presence, and over time a HP floral-heathery honey develops. A lot more enticing than the nose suggested would follow. F: Medium-long. Drying smoke fades to a peppery close that slightly pushes out the malt and lemon notes. I was expecting more from the sherry casks, but the Dragon name of this bottle should have foretold me of the smoke that was to come forward. I like the restrained use of peat smoke by HP, its always delicate and intriguing. This is a much more forceful representation of their peat profile. The delicate dehydrated lemon, or maybe preserved lemon for some palates, is a nice brightness and the malty flavours along with some of the feinty leathery or sweaty notes are quite nice counterparts to the smokiness. I don’t mind this in the slightest. But, where I have been finding HP to be a ‘bright’ exploration of peat, the dragon legend feels comparatively ‘dark’. If I want darkness I can’t help but feel that Ardbeg 10 or Talisker 10 would be better places to go as this is, to me at least; a little one dimensional and in need of some more character befitting such an ambitious name. [Pictured here with this drams Viking themed rock, a 450-400 million year old garnet bearing olivine-websterite from Holsnøy, Norway. This rock is an incredible representative of our upper mantle at depths of up to 185 km. Rather than being a typical olivine rich peridotite this rock is enriched in vibrant green chromium-pyroxene] Distiller whisky taste #136 HP Running ranking (mostly for my benefit): 10: 3.75 12: 4 15: 4.25 18: 4.75 25: 4.75 Valknut: 4.25 Valkyrie: 4.25 Dragon Legend: 3.25

Nose: Vanilla, smoke, brine, apples, plums, oak Palate: Brine, apples, plums, smoke Finish: Smoke, oak, plums This time around a good HP whisky. Sherry influence shows clearly here. A bit more smoke than usual, but in a mild way.

Nose: Spirity, sweaty, nutty, autumn leaves, Darjeeling tea, dried apple, herbal potpourri, humus, damp moss and sweetly decaying tree-stumps. Sherry and very light peat smoke. Primarily a grassy, herbaceous nose with sweet overtones. Palate: Sweet malt and black tea in the arrival with a definite smoke presence (more obvious than on the nose). The peat smoke builds a little in the development with salted plums, ginger chunks in syrup, dried dates and lemon preserved in olive oil. There is a progression to dryness through the palate with leathery brine notes appearing but sweetness remains apparent throughout. The texture is full and creamy. Finish: Medium. The palate is drying, but also has sweet smoky malt notes and grassy cereal. This is the 3rd of a flight of 6 Highland Park whiskies that I’m tasting today, and it is the first to show a definite sherry influence. However this is no sherry-monster but rather presents a crisp leafy-walnut skin character and indicates either second-fill or very lightly seasoned first-fill oloroso casks. In many ways it is the complimentary whisky to the Spirit of the Bear expression, with a sherry casking focus rather than ex-bourbon. The nose develops given some time in the glass as its initial shyness is overcome. The palate is good, it lacks a little in complexity and is a touch on the watery side but not enough to spoil the experience – it’s dry finish saves it. However this is obviously quite young whisky. I seldom say this but here is one whisky I would like to see at slightly higher proof. I think this young lightly-sherried profile would be very good indeed at 48% where the thin, almost watery body would be filled-out by a more intense presence. This is the least impressive of the three drams I’ve had so far today, but we’re still talking low 80s for the score, which isn’t shabby at all, and at the asking price it’s good value. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Sweet and Smokey, I love this. I’ll admit that I am partial to Highland Park. The peat is there but is not overpowering like some other island whisky. Can taste both the sherry cask and the salt air. Well done.