Highland Park - Origins Dark and Glorious

Carrying on the peated whisky series...

Highland Park has gone through extensive rebranding recently. Killing Dark Origins, introducing the Valkyrie, redesigning all the bottles, etc. A larger emphasis on the Viking roots of Orkney, and less on the distinctiveness of Highland Park itself as a distillery. Why though? Is it because the Viking origins of Orkney makes for a more compelling tale that generates more metaphors that sell? Or is it some Orkney/Viking terroir thingy? 

According to the salesperson, the Valkyrie does not replace Dark Origins, merely continues the story. What? Was Magnus taken to Valhella? Heresy! He's a Christian preacher, for goodness sake. Can't assume that all Heavens are the same, can we? In any case, it would be fair enough to say that Dark Origins is getting discontinued, and the Valkyrie is new to the family. 

The Valkyries take the fallen souls of warriors to glory, leaving behind a single plume, according to some video games/legends. Let's see if this whisky lives up to the glory of the warriors taken away, or is it like the plume - the poignant but ultimately inadequate remains of a warrior's former glories.

Highland Park Dark Origins (46.8%)

Picture snapped and dram tried at a sale. Valkyrie not in picture

Colour - copper

Nose - Raisins and sherry - the casks really did their work on this one. But the sherry does not musk the honey, spice and smoky notes in this one. There's a bit of baked bread here as well. 

Palate - A little rough around the edges. Is this young? Spicy on ginger and cinnamon. Lots of rich sherry, but the sherry sits on top of a bed of good, baked bread smothered in honey. The peat shows too, soft and heather-y. There's also a bit of stewed apples. The balance between peat and sherry is achieved to good effect.

Finish - Fairly long, but smoke and ginger is the dominant lasting note. Not a very complex or multi-dimensional finish, but this works and leaves a nice spicy tingle.

Highland Park Valkyrie (abv 45.9%)

Colour - copper. I think it's the same colour as the Dark Origins

Nose - Sweeter, and less smoke. More honey and vanilla, though the sherry is unmistakable too. Some toffee or chocolate. I think this is fairly straightforward...

Palate - Sweeter, smoother. Despite the fairly similar abv, this one feels a lot less alcoholic. The vanilla and honey masks much of everything else. This is velvety in texture too. Some smoke kicks in late, together with pepper, a touch of peat, and maybe some pepper and mangoes at the back. 

Finish - Shorter, but with smoke and oak as the dominant notes this time.

Overall - I think the Dark Origins was the better whisky, though the flight of the Valkyrie is, of course, the better story. DO was more robust, more malty, and a longer finish. The Valkyrie is good, but feels like a M18 version of the Dark Origins, which is itself a tamer, sherrier take on the truly amazing HP18.

A toast to Mr. Samaroli - Highland Park 'Flowing Feature', 1992/2016

Mr. Silvano Samaroli is a legend in the whisky industry. He made his name in the industry as the importer and bottler of Scotch whiskies in Italy, and has a reputation for bottling some pretty astounding stuff. Those lucky Italians. In any case, Mr. Samaroli passed on a couple of weeks ago. The whisky world loses one of its great men. In honour of the good work done, I had a Samaroli whisky this weekend.

Mr. Samaroli visited Singapore's The Auld Alliance a couple of weeks before his passing. The friendship between the Italian and The Auld Alliance saw an expansion in the menu here - there are now Samaroli flights that you can try, priced at $40 for the entry level blends, and $80 for single cask single malts. The one I tried was a Highland Park named 'Flowing Feature', and bottled at 45%. It was from a 1992 vintage, and bottled just last year. The bottle's really pretty too. I asked H from The Auld Alliance if they could give me the bottle after it's empty, and he very kindly said yes. Bless him. I actually knew H from the time he was a student in university, so I'm glad to see him doing something he enjoys.

Highland Park 'Flowing Feature' 1992/2016 (abv 45%)

Colour: Straw. This is fairly pale for a single cask whisky that's been maturing for 24 years. Probably a refill cask.

Nose: Oooh. This is a Highland Park, without a doubt. Orange, grapefruit, honey. Then, a big perfume and floral rhapsody that's very captivating. I normally don't like whiskies that are so perfumed, but I think I can make an exception for this one. There's some liquorice and oak, and then, a malty, porridgy undertone. Mmm. This might be close to what S. Valentin of whiskyfun.com describes as "wet dogs".

Palate: Sweet entry, with the honey notes coming to the fore, then some kind of floral tea - both floral, and a little tannic. Dried flowers - that'll be potpourri, I believe. Cloves and maybe one sprig of parsley. Dried orange peel and some lingering citrus notes that remind me of grapefruit. Then, as on the nose, the malty side starts to show itself later in the background, but comes across fairly strongly. What I really like about this, as with the Port Ellen reviewed a couple of weeks ago, was the texture. Thick and viscous, it felt like honey upon entry, like a blob of something viscous entered your mouth, rather than liquid. Ok, that didn't make sense. Viscosity is only used to describe liquids. Okok.

Finish: Mm. Spicy and oaky. Tannins from black tea this time, a little bit of honey and vanilla - odd, I didn't pick this up earlier. Fairly mineral too - wet rocks (no, not wet dogs. Rocks). Some floral suggestions linger, like the time I went to Korea and had a Bimbimbap that used edible flowers instead of vegetables. The finish is fairly long.

Overall - I really like this. The texture is a huge plus for me, and any whisky that combines deep flavours with such a texture will score high in my books. Many thanks to Mr. Samaroli for bringing us such great whiskies for so many years, God bless his soul.

Norse Gods and Kings

Recently read The Gospel of Loki, by Joanne Harris. It's fairly fun, and retells the main storyline of the Norse gods from Loki's perspective. This Loki is rather perceptive and self-aware, with recognition of his own role in why he came to be known as the trickster, and the role he plays in bringing on Ragnarok, or, the Norse version of the end times.

The premise is a fairly interesting twist, and it helps when you can imagine Hiddleston as the protagonist in the story. What grates, unfortunately, is the writing style. Loki, the narrator, seems to speak like a slimy American businessman, or someone running for President. The slyness comes out in bits and pieces, and half the time, he's just out to have fun. What I felt was missing was the bit of malice behind the tricks, and the sense of chaos. While Loki represents chaos in the story world, he doesn't really upset the apple cart much, and doesn't do much to reverse power relations either. Loki ends up being a little too rational and, well, normal. I dunno. Maybe I'm missing the point through my unfamiliarity with Norse legends, but the book's style and characterization of Loki left me wondering if the Trickster could be amped up a little bit more.

Which, coincidentally, is what I think about the whisky I'm writing about today: Highland Park's Harald, released for the Travail Travel Retail market. Harald is part of a series of other whiskies named after Viking/Norse warriors of old. Those cheaper than Harald were sold in 1 litre bottles, while Harald and above were sold in the standard 700ml bottles. Which perhaps suggests that Harald is about where things start to get serious. Unfortunately, I think Harald doesn't get serious enough, which is a shame. King Harald sounds like a pretty badass.

Highland Park Harald (40% abv)

Colour - Gold

Nose - Pretty nice, really. Classic Highland Park with sherry and smoke. The sherry comes across in raisins and the spices you usually associate with sherried whiskies - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Honey, and fairly obvious orange notes, I thought. With a bit of time, there's a faint floral note as well as some light peat instead of smoke. This is balanced, and pretty characteristic of Highland Park.

Palate - Oranges and cinnamon apple dessert. Sweet, with smoke. Honey remains. The smoke is pretty nicely balanced against the sherry influence. Spices remain, but not as strong as it felt on the nose. Mouth feel is a little...watery, despite the heavier flavours. I guess this was chill-filtered? Lacking a little fatness and minerality that would have added more edge to this rounded whisky. Balance and round, but I think it lacks a little depth. Everything is there on the palate on first tasting, without the development of chocolate, tea, or whatever else that I got from the HP 18. A little drying.

Finish - Short-ish, unlike the reign of King Harald. Spicy (more reminiscent of ginger now), oaky dryness. Mm. Lingering smoke and some caramelized apples.

Overall - This is easy and pleasant drinking! Smooth with little burn. Good balance of flavours between the various classic Highland Park flavours. However, this doesn't quite live up to the Warrior billing. Many reviewers of the series have noted this, and I share their opinion, that if you're going to name your whiskies after kings and warriors, could you make your whiskies a little stronger? Perhaps 46% abv? And un-chill filtered would be good too, to give the whisky a little more fat to survive the cold seas. Maybe a stronger concentration would help the whisky display more depth, but alas, it's easier to add water than to take it out.

So, good, but not quite strong enough, both for the book, and the whisky. Hard to live up to the Norse legends of old eh?

Birthday Drinks (Part 2) - Glendronach 21, Glenfarclas 40 Family Cask for Silver Seal, Highland Park 18

Three whiskies tasted at the Auld Alliance. Seriously, go check out their whisky selection. It's crazy the amount of stuff they have in there. Some really interesting independent bottlings and limited edition ones as well. This session was a couple of days ago. Let's hope my notes are sufficient to jog my memory.

The three new ones are the Highland Park 18, Glendronach 21, and the Glenfarclas Family Cask, which was about 40 years old, but I'm not sure which vintage it came from. Too excited about the drink to check the years. But it might have been the 1971/2011 vintage, bottled for The Whisky Shop Dufftown, since I remember the abv of the one we had that night to be about 51%. (Edit: It's the Family Cask for Silver Seal Glenfarclas 40 1971, bottled at 52% abv)

Note that I don't mention the colour for many of my posts. This is because, often, I drink my whiskies in places where lighting isn't the best. Since I'm not going to be able to even see the colour accurately, much less describe it, I usually skip it altogether.

Highland Park 18 - (43% abv)

Nose - Fresh ad grassy. A lot of oranges in this one. This is the first Highland Park I've ever tasted, but the big oranges seems to be in agreement with a few other whisky blogs out there. There's a hint of smoke in this one, and some rubber and tar.

Palate - Oranges, definitely. A bit of raisins and rubber. Does Highland Park use sherry casks? There's a touch of peat. The grass from the nose returns. The middle of the palate is drying on tea tannins. There's strong suggestions of honey too. On the whole, it's a little prickly, but fairly smooth.

Finish - A little bitter. Feels like burnt sugar and tea rolled into one. A bit of caramel, it seems. The finish is generally short, but the tannins last.

Overall, pretty good! Won't be the last Highland Park I try.

Glendronach 21 Parliament (48% abv)

Nose - Rich raisins, like the 18. Prunes. Seems like a more mature, riper version of the 18. Some fresh cut grass, which came as a pleasant surprise. Oak, and light vanilla.

Palate - Rather oily texture, and a bit of alcohol sting, but that goes away quickly. Raisins and grape seed tannins. Or maybe that's grape skin. Oak, vanilla.  A touch of something darker, like chocolate, but not quite. Honey too. A sweet whisky, this one.

Finish - Lingering grape tannins, like that you find in a good wine. A touch of spice, and some vanilla. Not so long, lest it becomes cloying.

Not very expensive, considering its age. I saw a bottle at Auld Alliance for just over $200.

 Glenfarclas Family Cask

Nose - Sherry. Grass. Vanilla that borders on icing sugar. Held together in a fine balance by a rich oak of the highest quality. The oak adds character and balance without dominating the nose. Very nicely done. A sherried whisky of the top quality, from the nose alone.

Palate - Amazing. Gives the Balvenie 30 a run for its money (and probably winning the race too, in my opinion). Light peat and grass o entry. The sherry then shows its power, building in rich sherry flavours. Just before it becomes sweet, the whisky turns to a slightly bitter touch. Feels like the dried orange peel that my mum used to tell me was a healthy snack. Vanilla too. A very rich and well-layered sherried whisky. Much deeper in complexity when compared to the Glendronach 21. The extra years weren't wasted. Must have been an amazing cask to give so much flavour.

Finish - Light spice, vanilla. Light peat. And then a small burst of eucalyptus and menthol at the back of the throat. Delightful.

At $100 a glass, this one is worth a try on a special occasion.