Highland Park

Well, I could not come all the way to Orkney and not see where one of my favourite, and I have a few, whiskey is made, now could I?

Highland Park is one of only a handful of distilleries that still retains a traditional malting floor, turning each batch of malt by hand, in what is a physically demanding process.

One of the fundamental flavours in Highland Park single malt whisky is the delicate, sweet, aromatic peat smoke, which has given Highland Park its unique character since 1798 and as far as the distillery is concern, the role of the peat is “absolutely fundamental” to the taste.

With as much as 70% of the overall flavour of a single malt whisky coming from the type of cask it is matured in, it is imperative to treat these handmade casks with a reverence and respect, especially since they cost £700 each.

Spanish oak casks seasoned with sherry give colour, spice and dried fruit character, whereas American oak sherry seasoned casks give lighter, sweeter vanilla and butterscotch flavours. Sherry oak casks are far more expensive, but the view at Highland Park is that they are worth it for the rich character and natural colour they provide to the maturing spirit.

They try to ensure that every bottle of Highland Park reaches the buyer in perfect condition, however, the whisky has to be harmonised. Without it, Highland Park just wouldn’t be the same. Each individual batch of Highland Park is drawn together from a variety of cask types, contributing an array of distinct, unique flavours. Once completed the harmonised whisky is left for up to six months, to perfectly marry the various flavours together.

My tour concluded with a tasting of three single drams of 12, 15, and 18 year old Highland Park Whisky. Clearly, when folks pour a lot of water into it, it simply dilutes it too much, which has always be my reasoning for not having water with whisky in the past. As the short seven minute introduction film said, ‘Highland Park; the best whisky in the World!’