Highland Park Edward Giaccone vs Highland Park 1973 ‘The Dragon’ 56.4%
A welcome return to Orkney and Highland Park
Below is a snapshot of the famous Maes Howe cairn, relevant later with regard to The Dragon.
And this is how the inside of a cairn might look, ignore the concrete roof. This is NOT Maes Howe, but the Tomb of the Eagles. The only way in and out is on your back, but you get a little trolley cart.
Highland Park Edward Giaccone (age? abv? TBC)
Admittedly this label is a little confusing as quite a number of different bottles and vintages were issued with variations of this ‘Magnus’ label.
Nose: Instantly you know this is an old nose. More than a few hints of OBE, shoe polish, soot and grimy dirt. Rusty tins and dusty wax candles. (In other words, great!) Also something earthy-herbal but also somewhat tangy. Like moldy celery, and chinese herbal medicine, in a diabolical tincture that must be the antidote for joy (masochists only) .. butttt which really serves quite well here thank you. Not particularly powerful, but there’s a lot going on. Damp wood, some goopy stewed fruit well on the way to becoming jam. Something a little burnt as well.
Palate: Yes much weaker and not as panoramic as the nose, maybe it’s just me. Definitely the same notes: Hot metal, some phenolic food, scratched copper pans, caked soot and old grease. More wood and stewed fruit. Does move on rather quickly though.
Finish: Medium but great, it’s there but somewhat weak.
I am quite sure there was a large sherried portion in the vatting, and that’s the thing with these old sherry beauties. People often ask what’s the difference between yesterday’s sherry and what we get today. The answer to that is in this glass, it’s the little things that count, little nuances, little notes of this and that which often fly below my radar, but the cumulative flavour envelop is so integrated and multifaceted that the new stuff tastes like a careless mix of whisky and wine.
Highland Park 1973 ‘The Dragon’ 56.4%
This was a small one off run for a local (by local here meaning Orcadian) company called S & J D Robertson in the late 90s early 2000s. The Dragon in question is an ancient graffiti carving copied from one of the most ancient places on Orkney – the Maes Howe Cairn built around 2800BC and sometime in it’s terrifyingly long existance, was broken into by Norsemen, one of whom was in possession of a suitably sharp knife, artistic talent and an apparent awe of dragons. For me however, it is the awe inspiring experience of standing in pitch darkness in the middle of this ark for the ages that is etched in my mind. The ancients are still carving.
Nose: Quite some several notches up in power, but also feels much more modern. More upfront than nuanced, still it’s a great nose. Wispy smoke, earth, lots and lots of big rich oxidised fruit of a sherry cask, some sappy greener note that make me think of the oxalic acid in spinach. Empty cans of engine oil. Big and firm, and the kind of sherry they meant when they said Highland Park goes with sherry.
Palate: Big thick and coating. Lots of meaty sherry notes, quite some smoke and scents associated with a hot engine, a surprise sweet malt core. Also I want to say peat but it’s more like earthy compost on fire. Cedar and incense. Ancient wood.
Finish: Long and big. Goes on with little wood – sherry – smoke – herby notes.
Also excellent stuff, also much more recognizable as today’s Highland Park. The jewel in Edrington’s stable. NOT Macallan.
Whiskyrific RSS
- Springbank 32 yo 1966 / 1998 #499 55.1%
- Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%
- Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 / 2019 Single Malts of Scotland for the Nectar #536 51.3% vs A Speyside Distillery 32 yo 1989 / 2022 Thompson Bros 51.4%
- Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 61.1% vs Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 58.7%
- Talimburg 19 yo 1986 / 2005 The Whisky Fair #1485 45.9% vs Talisker 20 yo 1981 / 2002 62%
- Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
- Clynelish 29 yo 1965 Whyte & Whyte 52.1%
- Brora 21 yo 1982 / 2003 Signatory #416 58.4% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2009 Synch Eli Daily Dram 46%
- Dornoch 5 yo 2017 / 2023 #46 ‘Jasper Broers’ 57.9% vs Shizuoka ‘private cask’ 2017 / 2022 #2017-108 61%
- Clynelish 26 yo 1993 / 2020 Carn Mor #11215 52.7% vs Bowmore 17 yo 2004 /2021 SMWS 3.327 ‘Siren’s Song’ 57.1%
whiskyrific 