Highland Park Earl Haakon

54.9% abv

Score:  91.5/100

Third of the Magnus series.  18 y.o. from 2011.  Limited to 3,300 bottles.

Concluding the saga…

The final chapter of the Magnus series by Highland Park.  Here  we have an 18 year old release, and wow, did this one stir up some consternation.  HP released the Earl Magnus expression in a limited run of 5,976 bottles.  The follow-up was Saint Magnus at 11,994 bottles.  Now, here we are with the third, and final, edition in the series, released in a run of 3,300 bottles.

Yep…you can see where I’m going with this.

So…first release does ok.  More than ok actually.  It sells out quickly, with quite some buzz behind it.  Time for edition two…let’s make more this time around.  Double it maybe!  Well…doubling the batch worked well.  All ~12,000 or so sold out.  Happy guys (and gals) at Highland Park, I would imagine.  Alright…let’s close out this story with a lovely 18 year old and release…a third as many bottles as we did with the second release!  Great idea!  Wait…what?

I saw a video with Highland Park brand ambassador, Gerry Tosh, explaining this very issue, wherein he acknowledged that they upset some people with this release.  He said it was a mistake.  They made too little and realized too late.  Hmmmm.  I don’t buy it.  This distillery produces lots of 18 year old whisky.  There is no reason they couldn’t have vatted another handful of casks in to beef up the production run.

I think there’s more to this one that we’re hearing.  Egregious error in judgement either way, I’d say, when you upset that many collectors and loyal fans.  The worst part of it?  This release is the best of the bunch.  Ok…maybe that is the second worst part of it.  The worst might be the price jacking we saw with this one.  Ouch.

Anyway…enough grousing about what is, in all honesty, one of my favorite brands.  I am a big fan of this distillery.

This particular whisky, Earl Haakon, is a rather exceptional 18 year old, full of beautiful depth and a wide bouquet of sensory treats.  As with the others in the range, this is a big, bold cask strength whisky, rather typical of the Highland Park profile, if not necessarily typical of their usual method of delivery (here we have it natural…cask strength…nekkid…novel).

The story of these ‘Magnus Series’ releases can be found in the review for the Earl Magnus.  I won’t deign to repeat myself and bore you again.  You’re only here for the tasting notes, right?

Nose:  Dusty, but sweet and sexy.  Very big honey notes.  Orange.  Smoke.  Lovely mature peats.  Some dusty grain silo.  Old leather gloves.  Back to honey and cherries.  Wow…what a great nose!

Palate:  Sweet honeyed fruits.  Gawd!…really, really nice fruits.  Maybe slightly orange-heavy.  Some smoke and coal.  A bite of pepper and clove.  Anise.  Graham cracker.  Very nice finish, long on smoked granny smith apple skins and honeyed barley.

– Reviewed:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Highland Park Saint Magnus

55% abv

Score:  88.5/100

Second of the Magnus series.  12 y.o. from 2010.  Limited to 11,994 bottles.

Here we have the second release in the Magnus series, following on the success of 2009’s Earl Magnus.  For this edition, we’re looking at a slightly younger malt than that edition, clocking in at a mere 12 years (possibly plus an older cask or two in there for good measure).  The first release was 15+ years old.  Seems like a slightly illogical succession, especially seeing as how the third in the series was an 18 year old.  Hmmmm.

In following the Magnus tale, at this point our hero had taken an axe to the noggin, met his maker and been canonized.  And now, Sainthood seeming to suit Magnus just fine, we find ourselves curled up with a bottle of Highland Park’s 2010 follow-up release…Saint Magnus.  I provided the history lesson in the review for the previous release, Earl Magnus, so let’s skip on ahead to the whisky itself. 

I like this whisky.  I don’t, however, like it as much as I did the Earl Magnus.  I’d venture further to say it is certainly the least spectacular of the three.  What you’ll find here is a much dirtier drink.  More ‘workingman’, by nature.  That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but it simply doesn’t seem to have the refinement of the others in the range.  As contrary as this may sound…it is the right selection for the series though.  I simply would have released this one to the market before the other two.

Nose:  This is a maltier and meatier dram than Earl Magnus.  Typical Highland Park flares of honey.  The other HP hallmark, heather floral notes, is quite dialed back.  Some pepper and a hint of matchstick.  Smoky and slightly earthy or peaty.  A bit of mildly vinegary bbq sauce (perhaps this ties back to the olfacory meaty connections I am drawing).

Palate:  Very much in line with what I would expect based on the nose.  Barley.  Very dry smoke and peat.  Certainly the most old school of the three.  Quite reminds me of an older style blend.  Organic and natural in its development.  Quite long on the grains as it fades.

I should note here…they essentially doubled the production run on this one.  I note this as it will be a talking point in the write-up for the third edition, Earl Haakon. 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Highland Park Earl Magnus

52.6% abv

Score:  90.5/100

First of the Magnus series.  15 y.o. from 2009.  Limited to 5,976 bottles.

Some history from the packaging:

Earl Magnus Erlendsson was born in 1075 when the Orkney Islands belonged to Norway. His Viking ancestors were terrifying warriors whose code of heroism, hatred and honour through vengeance framed their brutal lives. Into this world came Magnus, a man unlike any other Orkney Earl, spreading Christianity.

The peace-loving Magnus was unlike his cousin Haakon who remained imbued with the fighting spirit. Haakon was envious and ambitious, striving for self-glory. Their history is a classic tale of the struggle of good versus evil; the treachery and tragedy of the life of Earl Magnus accounts for his prominence in northern literature.

Magnus reigned jointly with his cousin Haakon from 1108 until 1115 when their followers fell out. Peace was negotiated and the Earls agreed to meet bringing only two ships each. The treacherous Haakon arrived with eight ships and captured his saintly cousin. The Norwegian chieftains decided that one of the Earls must die. After the refusal of his standard-bearer to undertake the task, Haakon ordered his cook to kill Magnus which he did by striking him on the head with an axe.

The life of Magnus is celebrated in two Icelandic Sagas and in the Orkneyinga Saga; he was buried where he died and legend has it the rocky area around the site immediately became a green field.

The fame of Magnus, canonized only 20 years after his death, has been maintained by the stunning cathedral built by his nephew in Kirkwall; St Magnus Cathedral was referred to as ‘incontestably the most glorious monument of the Norwegian dominion to be found in Scotland’ by J. Moodie Heddle, Orkney and Shetland, 1920.

Work began in 1137 and continued over several hundred years. In 1917 a secret cavity was found in one of the columns; in it was a box containing ancient bones including an axe-wounded skull. The influence of Earl Magnus spread far and wide; the forename became popular in Orkney, notably in the case of Magnus Eunson, a man forever associated with the founding of Highland Park distillery in 1798.

A little late, but please forgive the long-winded nature of this review.  There is simply too much to compress.

Starting in 2009, Highland Park began releasing the ‘Magnus Series’.  These were young-ish whiskies (between 12 and 18 years, depending on the edition) that were bottled at cask strength in snazzy old school packaging.  The bottle itself is a tribute to days of yore. It replicates the hand blown flawed vessels of the 1800s. It leans, it is bubbled and it is perfectly imperfect. The bottle comes packaged in a hinged wooden frame and sports a suitably archaic-looking label. Stunning visually.

But…here the foray into times of replication comes to an end.  The whisky itself is a fairly contemporary dram, really.  Nothing of the more raw nature I’d expect in an attempt to recreate an old school style of malt.  Having said that…I don’t believe Highland Park intended to create any sort of profile that was an homage to the past.  They wanted to play to marketing and simply release a fine dram.  And they succeeded.

Highland Park brand ambassador, Gerry Tosh, referred to this as being 15 years old, but with some older whiskies in it as well.  Not surprised.  There is a hefty bit of fruit here that I would associate with a few more years in the cask.  Either way…nice bit of cask selection and vatting by our friends at Highland Park.  They’ve created something unique, but still comfortable and recognizable in their stables.

At 52.6% abv this whisky is hefty, but surprisingly mellow.  Nice sipper with a great delivery and very pleasant lift and denouement.

Nose:  Honeyed and floral.  Cowsheds.  Pepper.  A touch of cherry.  A little of both orange and lemon.  Dry smoke…like burning fields.  Herbal and meadowy.  Lovely and quite a bit fruitier than I would have expected from Highland Park at this age.

Palate:  Farmy right off.  Some smoke and apple notes.  Sweet arrival, slightly creamy, then bittering just a bit.  Dries to the sides of the back of the tongue.  Nice sipper, if not as in depth as the nuances on the nose would hint at.

Limited edition.  If you didn’t get one right away…you probably won’t.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt