The passion and skills of the brand ensures the Highland Park whiskey stands apart. They range whiskey aged from 10 to 50 years. Highland Park’s standard 12 year old was the dram that launched my passion for whisky and I will always have a soft spot for it as a result. Having said that, I sometimes find their excessive reliance on the Viking stuff a bit of a turn-off. A wee story to go along with my dram is always welcome but it sometimes feels like the heavy-handed marketing obscures the quality of the liquid. For that reason it is a brand I have wandered away from over the years but recent tastes of Full Volume and Valfather showed me that I could still enjoy the spirit of this particular distillery. After a while, the finish is when a little oak from the barrel comes in. It’s quite subtle which is actually a nice change as a lot of scotches have a very prominent oaky flavour.

Highland Park is one of the few distilleries that follows the traditional method of floor malting. The brand uses the labour-intensive process of regular hand-turning barley before being kilned with Orkney peats.Years later, a warrior known as Sigurd was instructed to kill the beast by Odin himself. The god instructed Sigurd of the creatures habits and Sigurd spied his opportunity. Once a day, the serpent left its pile of gold to crawl along a trail and drink from the river. Along this trail, Sigurd dug a concealed ditch where he lay in wait. When Fafnir passed above him, he rose and plunged his sword into the heart of the beast and watched as it died, writhing in agony. A fitting end for one so bold as to wrong the Gods. We may, but are not under any obligation, to release new functionalities and tools or other features for the Service every now and then. Any new functionalities, tools and features shall be part of and governed by the Terms from the moment they are launched and/or available. Further, we reserve the right to modify, change, discontinue the Service, add or remove features, update the Service, change its appearance, temporarily and permanently, at any time, in whole or any part thereof. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”). Highland Park Distillery stands on a hill overlooking the town of Kirkwall – largest settlement and administrative centre of Orkney, an archipelago to the north of Scotland.

The company still uses the process of turning malt by hand. Their hard work and effort in every grain results in delivering the aromatic smokiness. This key process of products makes Highland Park distinctive from others. With the name ‘Dragon Legend’ we just had to try Highland Park’s more unique offering. Sherry cask scotches are popular among the Highlands with distilleries like Glenfarclas also using the fortified wine casks. Highland Park usually peat their whiskies but are not on the same level of smokiness that you’d find with a lot of Islay options. However, with a dragon in this product name, let’s see if it’s any more toasted. First released in 2017 “Dragon Legend” is a smokier version of the Highland Park single malt, named after the legend of Sigurd, who slew Fafnir the serpent in service of the Gods. In this old Norse tale, Odin and Loki, gods of Asgard were travelling in disguise in our world, or Midgard. Stopping to rest at a small dwelling, the Gods were robbed of their gold by Fafnir and his brothers. A crime that was to have dire consequences for those involved. The taste is when the peat hits you but it’s nicely rounded off by the sweeter sherry notes or raisins. There’s definitely some of that highland savoury spice in there but it’s more mellow than say their 12 Year Old offering.There are numerous advantages of Highland Park single malt whiskey. The company uses high-quality ingredients in the preparation of the whiskey. You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account.

Dragon Legend, despite sounding like it was named by an over-eager adolescent that enjoys tabletop role-playing games, is a rather satisfying dram that I have been enjoying more than I expected to. It’s more in-your-face than the core range but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and there remains enough of a recognisable trace of the distillery character to please diehards. The brand offers several ranges of whiskey that offers different notes of nose, taste, and appearance. In color generally the whiskies have clear, bright gold color or its available glowing amber. The nose carries deep sherry, dried fruits and a bit of melon aromas. The peat is overpowered by the sherry cask notes however. For those that are put off by very smoked fragrances this is quite welcoming option.No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. In the mouth: It’s quite a deep dram, in that there is a slight intensity initially, perhaps thoughtful on the initial sip. Fruity, juicy, perhaps an herbal tea, and that compost heather style of a peaty smoke, coated in a wee sweet case. On the finish: pepper, spice, herbs, smoke… longish. Conclusions The usage of five keystones in the production makes Highland Park whiskey stand out from the rest. The company uses the peats from the island of Orkney. These are woodless but high in heathery.