Highland Park
Highland Park is one of the most northerly distilleries in Scotland, being located on the north island of Orkney. This beautiful but isolated distillery has an impressive range of official bottlings.
| Information about the Distillery | |
|---|---|
| Scotland, Islands | |
| -2.955568 58.967921 | |
| Active | |
| The Edrington Group | |
|
2 x 20,000 l
Gedrungen
|
|
|
2 x 18,000 l
Normal
|
|
|
12 x 29,000 l
|
|
| 11 t | |
| 1825 | |
| 2,500,000 l | |
| http://www.highlandpark.co.uk/ |
| Average tasting notes Tasting notes |
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Nosing
Peat Smoke:
Sweet:
Sherry:
Fruit:
Herbs:
Peat Smoke:
Sweet:
Heather:
Honey:
Spices:
Oak:
Vanilla:
Sherry:
Malt:
Zitrus:
Fruit:
Herbs:
Heather:
Vanilla:
Honey:
Caramel:
Oak:
Spices:
Zitrus:
Nuts:
Malt:
Herb:
Chocolate:
Orange:
Maritime Notes:
Pear:
Herb:
Seaweed:
Floral:
Caramel:
Pineapple:
Orange:
Apple:
Bonfire Smoke:
Dark Chocolate:
Dried Fruit:
Raisin:
Chocolate:
Berries:
Cinnamon:
Alcohol:
Lemon:
Nutmeg:
Cherry:
Maritime Notes:
Leather:
Grass:
Nuts:
Tobacco:
Pear:
Peach:
Ginger:
Cinnamon:
Seaweed:
Pineapple:
Raisin:
Oil:
Hay:
Apple:
Pepper:
Fig:
Plum:
Nutmeg:
Clove:
Dried Fruit:
Floral:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Medicinal Smoke:
Banana:
Dark Chocolate:
Cherry:
Green Apple:
Hazelnut:
Berries:
Bonfire Smoke:
Date:
Tropical Fruit:
Almonds:
Salt:
Alcohol:
Ginger:
Lemon Peel:
Clove:
Pepper:
Peach:
Hazelnut:
Chili:
Grass:
Plum:
Oil:
Lemon:
Banana:
Cake:
Grapefruit:
Fig:
Hay:
Cake:
Salt:
Date:
Lime:
Mint:
Iodine:
Lime:
Grapefruit:
Green Apple:
Ham:
Anis:
Almonds:
Medicinal Smoke:
Coffee:
Blackberry:
Melon:
Tropical Fruit:
Chili:
Melon:
Grape:
Strawberry:
Coffee:
Barley:
Coconut:
Kiwi:
Coconut:
Strawberry:
Ham:
Iodine:
Lemon Peel:
Blackberry:
Mint:
Barley:
Grape:
Wheat:
Walnut:
Kiwi:
Tasting
Sweet:
Peat Smoke:
Spices:
Sherry:
Fruit:
Oak:
Sweet:
Peat Smoke:
Honey:
Malt:
Herbs:
Heather:
Sherry:
Oak:
Zitrus:
Spices:
Vanilla:
Nuts:
Fruit:
Herb:
Herbs:
Honey:
Malt:
Caramel:
Heather:
Maritime Notes:
Pepper:
Oil:
Chocolate:
Vanilla:
Zitrus:
Orange:
Dark Chocolate:
Herb:
Pepper:
Seaweed:
Dried Fruit:
Chocolate:
Caramel:
Oil:
Salt:
Bonfire Smoke:
Chili:
Orange:
Dark Chocolate:
Pear:
Nutmeg:
Maritime Notes:
Floral:
Alcohol:
Nuts:
Lemon:
Ginger:
Coffee:
Dried Fruit:
Cinnamon:
Pineapple:
Seaweed:
Alcohol:
Pear:
Leather:
Ham:
Bonfire Smoke:
Berries:
Banana:
Cake:
Cinnamon:
Cherry:
Apple:
Clove:
Almonds:
Raisin:
Plum:
Chili:
Salt:
Floral:
Lemon:
Leather:
Grass:
Nutmeg:
Pineapple:
Date:
Peach:
Grapefruit:
Tobacco:
Banana:
Lemon Peel:
Medicinal Smoke:
Fig:
Ginger:
Ham:
Plum:
Date:
Clove:
Grapefruit:
Cake:
Berries:
Tropical Fruit:
Cherry:
Anis:
Almonds:
Barley:
Apple:
Raisin:
Grape:
Mint:
Tropical Fruit:
Coffee:
Fig:
Walnut:
Blackberry:
Tobacco:
Grape:
Medicinal Smoke:
Hazelnut:
Grass:
Lime:
Green Apple:
Peach:
Lemon Peel:
Barley:
Coconut:
Coconut:
Strawberry:
Green Apple:
Kiwi:
Mint:
Hay:
Wheat:
Red Currant:
Walnut:
Hay:
Iodine:
Red Currant:
Melon:
Strawberry:
Iodine:
Wheat:
Hazelnut:
Blackberry:
Lime:
Melon:
Finish
Peat Smoke:
Sweet:
Spices:
Oak:
Peat Smoke:
Sherry:
Herbs:
Heather:
Malt:
Sweet:
Oak:
Nuts:
Fruit:
Spices:
Herb:
Oil:
Sherry:
Honey:
Herbs:
Zitrus:
Heather:
Malt:
Herb:
Vanilla:
Oil:
Fruit:
Bonfire Smoke:
Dark Chocolate:
Caramel:
Pepper:
Maritime Notes:
Chocolate:
Honey:
Bonfire Smoke:
Zitrus:
Tobacco:
Dried Fruit:
Orange:
Alcohol:
Seaweed:
Dark Chocolate:
Coffee:
Pepper:
Chili:
Chocolate:
Vanilla:
Salt:
Caramel:
Nuts:
Floral:
Leather:
Alcohol:
Maritime Notes:
Coffee:
Tobacco:
Dried Fruit:
Cinnamon:
Lemon:
Grass:
Seaweed:
Raisin:
Ginger:
Nutmeg:
Salt:
Chili:
Orange:
Pear:
Leather:
Anis:
Floral:
Tropical Fruit:
Plum:
Ham:
Clove:
Hazelnut:
Grapefruit:
Apple:
Walnut:
Fig:
Plum:
Almonds:
Clove:
Raisin:
Cake:
Berries:
Ginger:
Grape:
Green Apple:
Cinnamon:
Tropical Fruit:
Banana:
Apple:
Date:
Grass:
Berries:
Nutmeg:
Pear:
Grapefruit:
Almonds:
Ham:
Cherry:
Lemon:
Lime:
Hazelnut:
Iodine:
Medicinal Smoke:
Pineapple:
Pineapple:
Grape:
Walnut:
Fig:
Date:
Coconut:
Mint:
Mint:
Lime:
Cake:
Green Apple:
Iodine:
Peach:
Peach:
Cherry:
Coconut:
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The Whisky
Highland Park has the distinction of being the most northerly distillery in Scotland, being located on the north island of Orkney. This beautiful but isolated distillery has an impressive range of official bottlings. The core range of the distillery's official bottlings is comprised of a 12 year old, 18 year old, 21 year old, 25 year old, 30 year old and 40 year old.
The distillery also has a series of special bottlings, which includes the “Valhalla” range, which is a series of distiller's editions named after the Norse mythological gods, as well as an Orcadian Series of vintage bottlings. The Orcadian Vintage series is currently comprised of a 1964, 1968, 1970, 1971, and 1976 bottlings. Highland Park is also used as a major component in the Famous Grouse Whisky blend.
The Production
The water used in Highland Park is drawn from Cattie Maggie's Spring, which is located on Orkney, close to the distillery. The spring has provided water to generations of distillers from the island, not all of who were operating above the letter of the law. The pure, clear nature of the water is a major contributor to the taste of Highland Park. The production capacity of the distillery stands at an impressive 2.5 million liters of Single Malt a year. The majority of the Single Malt distilled at the site is sold as Single Malt, although a significant proportion is sent to the Famous Grouse's distillery (aka Glenturret) to be used for blending.
The Pot Stills
Production at Highland Park is driven by four pot stills; two wash, two spirit. The wash stills each have a capacity of 20'000 liters, while the spirit stills stand a little smaller, at 18'000 liters. Both the wash and the spirit stills have a pear shape, with round, spherical lids and gradually narrowing conical necks. The stills have neither constrictions nor reflux bowls, which means that there is little reflux during distillation. This results in the medium-heavy new make spirit typical of Island Whiskies.
The Maltings
Highland Park is one of a very few distilleries to still make partly use of it's own floor maltings. Considering the significant production capacity of the distillery, this feature is especially impressive. The maltings used in the production of Highland Park are peated, with the peat used in the process being carefully selected from the Hobbister Moor. This sweet, heathery peat, which burns much hotter and cleaner than peat from Islay, is a very important component in the flavoring of Highland Park. The smouldering peat in the kiln is replaced by coal after a certain time, so that not 100% smoky malt is produced.
Twenty per cent of the malt used for Highland Park Whiskies is malted here itself, with this being smoky malt. The remaining 80 per cent of malt is unpeated and is sourced from large malt houses. The slight smoke content in the Highland Park Whiskies is created by weighing the smoky and non-smoky charges, so that the smoke content can be precisely determined in the mash tun. This is where the peated and unpeated grains are finally mixed with water. Each batch holds six tonnes of mash, with 24 mashes per week.
The Fermentation
Highland Park has eleven wooden washbacks available for fermentation. These are filled with 29,200 litres and the yeast is added. After the fermentation period of 65 hours, the beer has an alcohol content of 8% and goes on to the stills.
The Warehouse
Highland Park boasts an enormous complex of stone houses, with the total currently standing at 26. But only 23 of them are used as warehouses. 19 of them still have the traditional mud floors and are so-called 'dunnage warehouses'. The rest are racked warehouses, where the casks are stored on large shelves. Orkney's climate is perfect for maturing Whisky, being neither too warm nor too cold. A major contributor to the flavor of Highland Park is the time that the Single Malt spends in the distillery's casks. Every single cask used at Highland Park is seasoned with dry Oloroso Sherry. These Spanish casks give the spirit a fruity, spicy and colorful flavor. Another distinguishing feature of Highland Park is the fact that the distillery utilizes a technique called 'cask harmonization'. This process involves combining Whiskys of varying maturities in a cask to help ensure consistency and balance of flavor. Harmonization greatly helps to balance the flavor of Single Malt, and many experts have commented upon the enriching quality that the process has had upon Highland Park.
The History
In addition to being the most northerly, Highland Park is also one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland. The distillery claims that it was established in 1798, but it is pretty sensible to approach any 'founding' dates in the 18th century with a fair degree of skepticism. It is more than possible that a large amount of illicit distilling was occurring on the Highland Park site around that time, as we have enormous amounts of historic sources that indicate that Orkney was a genuine hotbed of illicit distillation. There are numerous legends about the extent to which illicit distilling was occurring on Orkney, many of which involve accounts of the mayor of Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney, being a major smuggler.
The first license to distill Whisky was granted to Highland Park in 1826, with Robert Borwick overseeing the production. The Borwick family maintained control of the site until 1895, when James Grant, the owner of Glenlivet Distillery, purchased it. Grant increased the capacity of the distillery, adding another two stills. Operation continued to flourish under Grant's management, and by 1937, Highland Park had caught the attention of Highland Distillers, who bought the site. In 1979, Highland Distillers decided to take a different tact in regards to selling their Single Malt. Rather that using the majority of the spirit produced at the site for blending, the management decided instead to make a serious investment in marketing Highland Park as Single Malt. This savvy move increased sales of Highland Park enormously. Always one to be in keeping with the times, Highland Park opened a visitor's centre in 1986. In 1999, the Erdington Group and William Grant & Sons acquired Highland Distillers. The distillery and visitor's centre underwent an enormous renovation, with over GBP 2 million being spent. Under it's new ownership, Highland Park has continued to develop and expand. In 2003, a Highland Park 30 year old was introduced, debuting in America, and then moving through to the UK. The distillery has since introduced other new bottlings, such as the recent Valhalla range, and the Ambassador's Cask.
Visitor's Centre
The Highland Park Distillery has an award-winning visitor's centre, which is routinely heralded as one of the best in the UK. The facilities offered by the distillery include the opportunity to tour the distillery, view a multimedia show, do your own bottling, and sample the extensive range included in the official gift shop.
The Highland Park Distillery
Holm Road, Kirkwall
Orkney KW15 1SU
Tel: +44 (0)1856-873107
User Notes about the Distillery
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