HoHoHo Merry Christmas. Right, now that that’s out of the way we can get down to what really matters at this time of year, the true meaning of Christmas day and the tradition practised in households the world over. I speak of course about overindulgence. I was racking my brains about what to do for my Christmas day tasting this year. The selection is usually an organic one, very much dictated by what samples fortuitously come my way throughout the latter half of the year. I will often accrue an excess of particularly fine examples from one distillery or another and when I see this beginning to happen I tend to sit on these samples until a suitable occasion comes around for gorging on them all in one big dramgasm. So it seems that this year I have managed to grow a sizeable stash of top notch Highland Parks. Many of them are legendary drams that will need, like the distillery itself, little introduction. So without further ado, don your anti-maltporn, glare resistant Christmas googles, arrange yourself comfortably by the fire, turn your computer’s jealousy filters all the way up to eleven and lets proceed…
We’ll start old and work our way forwards…
Highland Park 1955-1985. 30yo. G&M for Intertrade. 216 bottles. 53.2%. 75cl.
A legendary HP, one I’ve been dying to taste for several years now. Bottled in the year of my birth. Does that make 1985 a good year for whisky..?
Colour: Light Amber
Nose: It’s light at first, all on resinous polish, herb liqueurs and some wonderfully crusty seashore aromas. Leafy and fresh with notes of pine needles, earthy peat, cloves, orange liqueurs, menthol and sultanas. This one is a real slow burner, it’s really taking its time to unfold. Game, roast butter, dried herbs, hints of roast garlic, fruit squash, greengages, camphor and salt. Very nervous and beautiful with a wavering austerity that keeps everything on its toes. The peat becomes quieter with more focus on citrus and crystallised fruits with that soft lapping seashore character in the background. Further farmy/industrial notes of tar, hessian and stables begin to shine through. With water: softer notes of wax, tea, green fruits, minerals, wet earth, wild flowers, natural honey, coal dust, magnificent.
Palate: Fantastic and hugely complex delivery, masses of green olives, brine, sea water, oysters, orange juice, all kinds of liqueurs and subtle spice notes. Herbaceous, waxy, briny, phenolic and concentrated. Bitter orange marmalade, coriander seeds, liquorice, dark chocolate, mulled wine (very festive), damsons and citrus infused green tea. What a stunning profile. With water: wow! It became drier but also fuller and even more expressive, big luxurious notes of salted chocolate, roasted nuts, toast, more green and black olive flavours, seaweed, green peats and motor oil.
Finish: Long, leafy, peaty and starting to become also a bit smoky, like boiler smoke. More seashore freshness, greenery, seaweed, tea, crystallised citrus fruits and mineral notes. Beautiful.
Comments: A wee masterpiece. Displays everything that is brilliant about Highland Park. What a stunning whisky.
Score: 95/100
It should be noted that this in NOT the actual bottling but is from the same CASK series by G&M. The one I'm tasting was bottled under an identical label but the strength is 53.2% not 54.6% like the one pictured. I couldn't get a picture of the bottle I have the sample from so this is for illustration purposes.
Highland Park 1955. G&M CASK series. Bottled mid-late 1980s. 53.2%. 75cl.
This one should be fascinating to taste against the Intertrade 55 because they are from the same bottler, same era and identical strengths. Same whisky? lets find out…
Colour: Amber (a tad darker than the intertrade)
Nose: Ok this is not the same whisky but its the same immediate quality. This one is all on freshly baked brown bread, heather, smoke, peat oils, boiler sheds and something like medicine liqueur. Super rich industrial and farmyard characters dominate at first nosing. Then we get notes of warm oatmeal, methol, antiseptic, tar and coal. This one is more up front and obvious but no less beautiful than the Intertrade. Starts to develop a more nervous citrus quality, lots of oranges and lemons manifest as marmalade, crystallised peel and liqueur qualities. This one feels like a bigger whisky than the Intertrade but the similarities are undeniable, could they be the same whisky just separated by their time in different bottles? Probably not but it’s fun to think about. With water: now it becomes even more minty, leafy and finally a stunningly soft and elegant coastal freshness envelops the whole thing. Ancient peat smoke, dried herbs, smoked garlic, heather smoke, eucalyptus and flowers. Another utter beauty.
Palate: This one delivers a much more direct and concentrated profile at first, dry leafy notes with bags of oranges, bitters, touches of nice oak, spices, chocolate and background phenols. After eight mints, tobacco, aniseed, cured meats and aged demerara rum. Actually this is one of those aged malts that seems to en-corporate stylistic aspects of old brandy and old rum, in the way that the best wood aged spirits tend to converge after several decades. With water: water brings back these wonderful baked bread savoury notes, along with more eucalyptus, turmeric, cinnamon and aloe vera. Quite green and fresh now. The character of the sherry is so perfectly present and simultaneously restrained, perfect balance, just like the Intertrade.
Finish: Another long, resinous, waxy, crystallised and gloriously fruity beast. Lashings of salt, sinewy meats, hints of tar, boiler sheds, coal, wild flowers and natural honey notes.
Comments: I suspect this is from sister casks rather than a separate bottling of the same whisky. It feels bigger and slightly left field of the Intertrade. But it’s still just as brilliant, I’ll not waste time trying to split hairs, same score…
Score: 95/100
I should add that I forgot to take my hardrive home with me over Christmas, I had several photos relevant to this session on it so unfortunately I am having to scavenge photos from elsewhere on occasion. This one for instance I stole from Whiskyfun. Sorry Serge.
Highland Park 1956-1986. G&M for Intertrade. 216 bottles. 55.6%. 75cl.
Miracle of miracles I have the ‘sister’ HP bottling for Intertrade, how convenient. This is how I like to think the dialogue between the two companies went back in early 1986…
Intertrade: “Oh Mr G&M, thankyou so much for beautiful Highland Park bottling last year. It was so tasty. We already finish over half of bottles. We drink faster than we can make fake of empties.”
G&M: “Nae bother Mr Intertrade! Wud ye like another Highland Park. Mebe a 1956 this time?”
Intertrade: “Oh Mr G&M that would be most appreciated. Please this time remember to make seals a little less tight. In Italy it is tradition that we have bottles very easy to open. This way is more easy to refill bottle. Just for personal display you understand.”
G&M: “Nae bother big man. Yer dram is on its way!”
What is also interesting to note is that there are also 216 bottles of this one. This seems to be a typical trait of early single casks from the 60s-80s. Strengths and bottle numbers were often identical from cask to cask, remember the different casks of old Clynelish for Giacconne in 69 and 71, both the same strength. It may be simply that they couldn’t be bothered printing labels with too many differences or maybe they liked to bottle things in terms of numerical symmetry. Whatever the reason it seems curious.
Colour: Light rosewood.
Nose: This one has a much more overt sherry influence, a wonderful cocktail of roasted nuts, sultanas, cognac, beeswax, balsamico and dark stewed fruits. Behind that there are some stunning notes of cocoa, rancio, pipe tobacco, salted chocolate, pot-pourri and then the most beautiful ancient wax/peat combination. Gets progressively greener and lusher with fantastic notes of green fruits, fruit syrups, lemon balm, limoncello and brilliant vigorous saltiness. This is my definition of perfect sherry. With water: now we have something like minted peat (or peated mint?), but otherwise it’s just more of everything that’s gone before only more earthy, luxurious and relaxed. One of those stunningly aromatic drams you could nose for hours.
Palate: The alcohol is surprisingly more pronounced here but the palate is very consistent with the nose. Loads of chocolate, pristine sherry, rancio, molasses, dark rum, stewed fruits, soft, herbal peat notes and a sharp lick of salt. The heat dies down a bit and we get lots of mustard seed, black pepper, bacon jam, espresso coffee, salt, tar and seaweed. Lets add water… Oh god, a fantastic and thick bed of mint, sherry, peat, salt and resinous fruit. A masterpiece. I’ll not bother going any further.
Finish: Drying, dark fruits, toasted cereal, soft sherry, gentle aged peat oils, salts… everything.
Comments: I always thought the 1955 was the best but I think I prefer this one. It’s not quite as complex as the 55 perhaps but it is a true masterpeice of poise, concentration, balance, harmony and execution of flavour. I adore this dram.
Score: 96/100
Another picture I had to steal. This one came from Geert Beero's Facebook photos, thanks Geert. The Dragon is evidently the one on the left. Sadly the 1958 and the John Scott's will not appear in today's tasting. Never mind, I suppose I'm in no position to complain about a lack of 1950s Highland Park.
Highland Park 1961-1997. ‘The Dragon’. Robertson of Kirkwall. 48.1%. 70cl.
Another of these legendary and elusive ‘Dragons’. The 1961 is a little more ‘obtainable’ than the 73s and certainly than the old 25yo purely by virtue of being the most recently bottled, I imagine this will be my only opportunity to taste it before it vanishes into the mists of time. This one was opened and poured by the great Dominiek Bouckaert at Lindores Whisky Festival back in October. Many thanks Dominiek.
Colour: Dull gold
Nose: The most wonderfully fresh polished peat at first with natural sea salt crystals and coal smoke. Wonderfully industrial, old style and expressive. We’re not that far from the 1955 Intertrade it seems. Lots of herbs, oils, wax, menthol, tiny, complex touches of medicine and all kinds of delicate sub aromas that hint at honey, white fruits and minerals. A farmy contingent of stables, hay, dry dusty earthy notes and nice manure arrives all wrapped up in menthol throat sweets and fresh mint. Quite simply a beautiful aged coastal malt that still feels super fresh and wonderfully alive in the glass. Goes on with more of these classical herbal liqueur qualities such as notes of caraway, liquorice and aniseed, touches of freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh pumpkin, green peppercorns and a wonderfully green and rustic coastal aspect. With water: lemon drops, more mint, more salt, warm toasted cereals, melted butter, raisins and green peat.
Palate: Super resinous, polished, waxy and biting with a brilliant soft, heathery peat note. Green banana, ripe pear, apple peelings and olive oil. The nose was closer to the more lavish 50s style but the palate is really reminiscent of the more open, earthy and polished 60s style HPs. This one really reminds me of many old Duncan Taylor and John Scott’s casks from the 60s, a very transitional era example. Goes on with more leafy fruits, nectarines, delicate tropical notes, plums, apricots, eucalyptus sweeties and some subtle nutty notes. Cocoa, earl grey tea, distant bonfire smoke, mead, minty honey and white chocolate. I’m not sure this needs water at all but it’s cask strength so I suppose I’d better try and retain a vague sheen of professionalism. With water: salty peat, resinous and crystallised fruits, orange liqueur and more mint.
Finish: Long and full of mint, soft peats, little drying pockets of salt and citrus fruits. Basically more of everything that’s gone before.
Comments: Not as blinding as the 50s bottlings but then that is some serious competition. This still blows the majority of other bottlings right out of the water.
Score: 93/100
Highland Park 19yo OB. Italian import. Early 1980s. 43%. 75cl.
This one was probably distilled sometime around the mid 1960s.
Colour: Amber
Nose: This is interesting, its a much quieter style of HP (probably due to the low abv) all on fresh butter, grass, heather, herbs and hints of tobacco and old cigar boxes. Another great example of pristine sherry, all on dried fruits, figs, nuts, furniture polish and wax with a more industrial coal and soot quality hovering about in the background. Brilliantly integrated wood an distillate characteristics. Nots of snickers, salted peanuts, seaweed, it’s growing more and more coastal with time, now brilliantly fresh and expressive. Those soft, almost fluffy peat notes get bigger in the background. Typical and brilliant HP.
Palate: Big for 43%, lots of that perfect sherry but also an unexpected creaminess, like buttermilk and vanilla cream with loads of roasted nuts, muesli, chocolate, treacle and dark fruits thrown into the mix. Buttered toast, mocha, hot chocolate, hints of tcp and mouthwash and then grassy and milky notes. A really lovely mix of oddly contrasting style here, they work beautifully together and make the whole thing very entertaining and compelling. More tobacco with woodsmoke, touches of brown sugar and a little juicy oak.
Finish: Long, delicately drying and full of dark chocolate, biscuits, mead, heather, honey, soft peats and little flacks of mint.
Comments: One of these great old officials that works brilliantly as an easy drinking but full flavoured whisky. This is a beautiful dram that shows brilliant sherry characters but also a wonderful and open Highland Park personality, great distillery character.
Score: 91/100
Highland Park 1966-1986. 20yo. Duthie’s for Corti of San Francisco. 86 US Proof. 75cl.
An unusual and quite rare Us bottling of HP by the legendary Duthy & Co.
Colour: White wine
Nose: This is very different, the wood is much quieter, obviously refill, so this one is all on distillate attributes. It starts on bags of oysters, minerals, mustard seeds, white pepper, soft coastal notes and a nice combination of green, white and tropical fruits. It’s one of those industrial HPs with lots of motor oil, hessian, oily rag and boiler shed aromas. Other notes of lemon grass, camphor, green tea, soft medical touches and lanolin. It’s a quiet HP not such a beast like some of the older ones but the complexity and the quite genteel coastal/highland notes are particularly beautiful. Goes on with green fruits, grass and wax with further notes of lamp oil, wet pebbles and rainwater.
Palate: Not so different from some of the very good recent HPs by Duncan Taylor, Signatory and many of the German independents as well. All on oils, minerals, boiler sheds, exhaust fumes, smoke, camphor, resin and big citrus qualities. We call those ones a bit old school so I’d call this one a bit modern by comparison. I love how naked it is, the wood is almost totally silent in this one. Lots of acrid salt, lemon juice, light honey, white pepper, bandages, toothpaste, coal dust and fennel seeds. Hints of peppered mackerel, kippers, brine, white flowers, brown bread and mixed spice.
Finish: Quite long and lemony with bags of flints, pebbles, minerals, flowers, lemongrass, thyme, cereals and something a little vegetal towards the end.
Comments: This one is a little odd, if it has said distilled 1990 bottled 2010 I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, maybe that says a lot about how Highland Park has or hasn’t changed in the past forty years (although we all know it has). I might be tempted to say I’m disappointed given the vintage but it is a very good whisky so I really shouldn’t get drawn into that whole expectations malarkey. A fascinating dram by any measure.
Score: 90/100
This is a sample from a sample so I didn't actually get to photograph the actual bottle. It is from an impeccable source though so I'm not too worried.
Highland Park 1972-1998 26yo. Signatory ’10th Anniversary’ series. Cask no: 1632. 213 of 252 bottles. 55.7%. 70cl.
Moving into the 1970s now, lets see what changes come our way..?
Colour: Gold
Nose: A slow moving wall of polish, fragrant oils and various honeys at first nosing which quickly gives way to earl grey tea, kelp, old rope, seashore and wet peat. One of these coastal/farmy HPs that are so gorgeous. Keeps on developing, moving quickly now into much fruitier territories, lots of kumquats, peaches, melon and nectarines with touches of ripe banana as well. Horse stables, hay, sack cloth, coal dust, putty, plums and quince jelly. Very controlled, expressive and quite beautiful, another of these perfect casks that just teases all the right aspects of the distillery character out into full glory. With water: a little more buttery now with notes of natural vanilla, whipped cream, white pepper and boiled cereals. Daisies, lanolin, olive oil and some lovely generic seashore notes.
Palate: Fruit syrups, drying polish, clean oak, mustard, hessian, chamomile tea, bay leaves, brown sugar and olive oil, a great and complex attack straight away. Becomes quickly coastal, fruity and mentholated with those background slightly metallic and phenolic aspects. Very reminiscent of some Springbanks from the same era actually. Some floral notes of geranium and juniper then sunflower seeds, dandelions, cinnamon, watercress and some pebbley mineral qualities. With water: now it becomes beautifully bready and savoury with lashings more olive oil, tiny flecks of fragrant soap in a very good way and quite ashy and lemony.
Finish: Longish but quietly so, savoury and citric with notes of herbs, lemongrass, cereals, touches of medicine, oils, green fruit and salt. Medium dry and very beautiful.
Comments: Not as as stellar as some of the others we’ve had so far but still a fantastic dram. It’s also interesting to see how the style sort of evolved again and is separate from the 50s and 60s distillates.
Score: 90/100
Highland Park 1973 ‘The Dragon’. Robertson of Kirkwall. Bottled April 1992. Cask 13307*. 58.9%. 75cl.
*Update. Thanks to Gunnar for getting me this info from an old letter he received from the Robertson Group. It seems my below assertion that there are three different 1973s may well be incorrect. I’ll do further research and get back to you.
Another incredibly rare ‘Dragon’. They were all privately owned casks bottled for the owner’s small shop on Orkney. Besides the 1961 and the old 25yo there are also at least two other 1973s, one at 56.4% and another at 56.6% that I tried back in 2009 and found to be utterly stunning so I have high hopes here. The 1973s were bottled sometime in the late 80s or very early 90s and were bottled in whatever cheap containers were to hand, usually bargain bin end wine bottles, as is the case here. No cask types or numbers or any other info than strength or vintage were ever stated as far as I know. This one was opened at our pre-sale tasting at Mulberry Bank Auctions the other week, I didn’t include it in that post because I was keen to hang onto it and put it in this line up.
Colour: Dark Amber, almost like blood orange.
Nose: Wow! An incredibly clean, pristine, coastal and aromatic sherry with loads of wax, preserved lemons, sea salt, brine, salted almonds, kelpie beer and eucalyptus oils. Goes on with notes of kippers, lamp oil, hessian, cumin, greengages, gooseberry jam and orange bitters. This is very reminiscent of the 56.6% bottling, sister casks maybe? Gets a little more medicinal with time, hugely expressive with many different kinds of tea, citrus and oil notes dancing about. Also some gentle peat and oily phenols floating about in the mix. Really fantastic. With water: more mineral qualities now with enhanced notes of graphite and pencil shavings, sheeps wool, touches of creosote and some startling notes of freshly shopped mint. Still tons of fresh citrus, oils, coastal notes and gentle, super clean sherry aspects.
Palate: Nervous, salty sherry with more wax, wood resin, dark fruits, citrus peel, crystalised fruits, seaweed, crab meat, dried herbs and salted liquorice(?). Wonderfully concise and in keeping with the nose, almost like a continuation of that profile. Mineral notes ,wet pebbles, lemon oil, a hint of balsamico, cured meats and something quite leathery as well. Like the greatest Highland Parks this seems to be a real all rounder. With water: salted butter, green fruits, dundee cake, heather ale, camphor, green tea, lemon juice on oysters, spicy calamari, lemon grass, coriander, lime juice, fragrant spices and chilli. You could make ceviche with this whisky! Goes on and on…
Finish: Super long, drying, utterly coastal and fresh with all kinds of black and green olive notes as well, you couldn’t fall asleep while you were still tasting this, it’s so lively and spellbinding. What a great dram!
Comments: This is equal to if not better than the 56.6% version I tried a couple of years ago as far as I’m concerned. A hidden masterpiece.
Score: 93/100
Highland Park 1973-2003 30yo. Jack Weibers. Cask 8396. Bottle 014 of 168. 58.7%. 70cl.
Colour: Straw gold
Nose: This is very different from the Dragon, a beautiful tableau of lemon juice, ashes, minerals and seashore notes. Perfectly pristine, pin sharp and alive with a vibrant coastal freshness, pure island whisky. Then some savoury hints of brown bread and yeast with lime juice, chives and oysters with hints of sage stuffing (seasonal again) and black pepper. Lots of limes, kiwis, green apples, grass, flints and wet pebbles. Develops along lines of green fruits, bitters, touches of orange liqueur, more salty dried herbs and pasatry. Brilliant. With water: this one swims beautifully, its full on lush, green, softly peaty and fresh now. Still beautifully coastal but with a more relaxed mineral quality and lots of elegant fruitiness.
Palate: Big crisp saline notes with big bags more lime and lemon juice all over fresh oysters and smoked mussels. Fresh coriander, shallots, muesli, coal, tar, vanilla cream, and salt and vinegar crisps. Still very ashy and nicely drying with notes of sandal wood, cereals, shellfish, green peat, black peppercorns, taramasalata, cumin and smoky bacon. With water: more balance now between savoury, coastal and farmyard qualities, notes of motor oil, seashore, hessian, camphor, freshly chopped parsley, riesling and buttered toast. Delicious stuff.
Finish: Long, lemony, ashy and mineral, basically full circle back to the beginning. A glorious pantheon of metal, phenols, citrus, salt, fragrant wood notes and green fruits.
Comments: Another of these perfect ‘background’ casks that allows the distillery a huge voice but simultaneously provides it great maturity. This was probably bottled at its peak if you ask me. Beautiful old coastal Highland Park, my favourite style from this distillery, it’s so achingly evocative of its birthplace.
Score: 93/100
Highland Park 1975 32yo. OB for World Duty Free. Cask 6596. 50%. 70cl.
About time we tried an official I think.
Colour: Gold-Amber
Nose: We’re not far from the standard official 30yo here, lots of dried nuts, figs, resin, pine sap, putty and cedar wood. Some very beautiful influence from the wood but it manages to retain a keen freshness and there are some great fruit qualities in there as well. Lots of green fruits, crystallised citrus peel, bakes apples, banana bread, menthol and hints of aged cognac. Evidently this has come from another very good sherry cask. More of these typical notes of warm Moroccan spices and preserved lemons in brine. A nose that’s both classy and classic. Lets try with water… wow, super fresh now, a gentle lapping seashore (dear lord!) with all kinds of soft citrus qualities like lemon balm, orange liqueur, chocolate limes, vanilla cream and heather.
Palate: Warm and fruity on delivery, greengages, plum jam, muesli, dark fruits, prune juice, fig rolls, lemon wax and then lots of polish, candle wax, hessian and minerals. Goes on with turpentine, olive oil, fruit ice cream, cranachan, caramelised oatmeal and touches of balsamico. This one walks a lovely tightrope between savoury and sweet, lots of nectar and honey and gentle creamy qualities but also some of these typical and wonderfully savoury notes of brown bread and pastry. With water: richly resinous now, bags of pine needles, beeswax polish, dunnage, paint and stewed dark fruits. A great swimmer.
Finish: Long, earthy, soft, herbaceous, minty, oily, gently phenolic, coastal and mineral
Comments: Another great old HP, one that swims very well despite a natural strength that’s bordering on being relatively low. Great stuff.
Score: 91/100
Another pinched image. I stole this one from Diego Sandrin, sorry Diego.
Highland Park. 1977-1988. Duthie for Samaroli ‘Fragments’ Orkney. 648 Bottles. 50%. 70cl.
Part of a famous series by the legendary Mr Samaroli. This is the youngest of the flight so it should be an interesting variant from all the others.
Colour: Runny Honey
Nose: This is heavier and peatier than the others at first nosing. Lots of coal, graphite oil, oily phenols, grist, barbecue smoke and quite a big presence of wax an mineral notes. Very old school, almost old Clynelishesque in its waxiness. Obviously that old young whisky style is something that disappears in the cask after about 15-20 years as it’s a style that is missing from all the others that we’ve already had where wood obviously altered it quite distinctly. This one has that young biting old style wax and mineral profile well intact. Lots of brine, kelp, smoked malt, soft medicine and old rope. Lemon oil, boiler sheds, farmyards, coal smoke and kippers.
Palate: Massive and hugely old style delivery with loads of lemon drops, wax, hessian, fresh citrus notes and bags of ashes and minerals. Really lively and beautiful. Continues along the same lines with camphor, tea tree oil, green tea, eucalyptus oil, wood resin, bonfire smoke and smoked mussels. Hints of strawberry liqueur, apple sauce, orange bitters and white flowers with more of these coastal/industrial qualities abound. A great and potent young Highland Park, one that shows the distillery’s peatier side really nicely.
Finish: good length with more of these really assertive mineral and wax notes, smoked wax (?), green peat, sea salt, pebbles, wild flowers and mead.
Comments: A great one. Loads of character, flavour and intensity. Although what is most fascinating is the way it shows a much more intense old style profile than many of the others, like said above, it seems that those ‘old highland’ characteristics you can find in old young malts is something that can diminish with greater time in wood. I wonder what those old Intertrade bottling from the mid 1950s tasted like at 15 years old rather that 30. We’ll never know but it’s nice to wonder.
Score: 92/100
Highland Park 1978-2011. OB for Global Travel Retail. 47.8%. 70cl.
And finally… this one was done this year for duty free and probably comes from a vatting of at least two casks.
Colour: Rich Amber
Nose: This is completely different from all the others. Firstly there is a much greater wood presence here, lots of extraction, shoe polish, pencil shavings, milk chocolate, vanilla cream and some odd vegetal qualities like over cooked asparagus and turnip. This really reminds me of my own living cask, in that it feels like the whisky has been over-stewed in far too active wood for too long. Some spices like cloves and nutmeg with other notes of cheap herb liqueur and celery. Really a bit odd this one. It’s not bad but it does struggle in comparison to all the others. I wasn’t going to add water but I think we’ll try it after all just in case… water seems to help nicely on the nose, there is more freshness, more greenery and even a few coastal hints. Although the woodiness is still quite evident.
Palate: Big tanicity at first from the wood, far too excessive if you ask me. Raw polish, wood shavings, dust, oak lacquer, stale mead, more turnips and parsnips, maybe some brussell sprouts as well (seasonal again), camphor, pine sap, cold tea, more tannins, sawdust and raisins. With water: bitter chocolate, some herbs, quite a big astringency and more boiled vegetable notes. Nettle tea, soda bread, cheap rum and finally a whiff of mint.
Finish: Fairly short and drying with a kind of empty tannic feel about it.
Comments: This no where near the giddying heights we started at. Did Highland Park suffer too much under the strains of modernisation by 1978? Probably not, I’ve had other wonderful 78s, I think this one has just spend a good decade too long in wood. You may say it’s a shame to finish on this one but actually it’s rather nice to be brought back down to earth after so many stellar drams. Maybe this is the cold turkey, morning after come down of boxing day compared to the mental festive frenzy of the 50s and 60s masterpieces. Anyway, it’s not a bad whisky, just too oaky, to the point of being detrimental I think. But if you’re a fan of wood y whiskies you’ll probably really enjoy it.
Score: 81/100
So, you’ve made it to the end. Well done. Or maybe you just skipped all the hot air and blether and looked at the scores, that’s fine too, I’m just pleased you made the effort.
After all that I’d like to mention briefly that all but two of these whiskies (the Dragons) were opened, poured and provided(at various stages) by the Highland Park gathering legend that is Oliver Humbrecht. Many thanks Olivier, keep them coming 
And with that I bid you a merry, drunken, glorious, dazzling, filling, loving and joy soaked Christmas. May all you presents be liquid, your casks be single, your strengths be cask, your colours natural, your filtrations barrier only, your bottles ancient and your lovers young. From all of us here at Whisky Online have a wonderful Christmas, thankyou to anyone and everyone who has supported us throughout the past year and we hope to see you again in 2012. Now stop reading this pish, turn up the music and go pour yourself a large one!
Angus. 25/12/2011
