Highland Park traces its ancestry to Old Norse víkingar. Highland Park crafts their Whisky with the same independent ferocity, passed down from the fierce Norse seafarers who settled on Orkney over 1,000 years ago.
Highland Park was founded in 1798, as a Scotch Whisky distillery in Kirkwall Orkney. Highland Park is a half mile further north than Scapa distillery, making it the northernmost distillery in Scotland. Highland Park is not to be confused with the Scottish Highlands, in this case 'Highland' refers to the fact that the distillery was founded in an area called 'High Park' to create a distinction from a ‘lower Park’ area close by.
The distillery uses local barley and peat from the nearby Hobbister Moor. The malt is peated to 20 parts per million phenol, and then mixed with unpeated malt produced on the Scottish mainland. Highland Park is made today, just as it was in 1798, using what they call their “five keystones of production”: aromatic peat, hand turned floor maltings, Sherry oak casks, cool maturation, and cask harmonization.
They also are one of the few distilleries left to meticulously turn their malt by hand. Their barrels undergo a painstaking process too. After being cut from European and American oak, and crafted into staves at precisely 45°, (apparently this method was used by the Vikings to make their longships watertight) the staves are shipped to Jerez, where they’re made into casks, filled with Oloroso Sherry and left to mature for about two years. These casks are sent back to Orkney to be refilled with Whisky. Giving about 80% of Highland Park Whisky’s distinct flavors, and natural colorings. This special single malt is matured for 15 years. Bottled at 43% ABV.
Smartass Corner: The actions of legendary víkingar Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons are recounted in the Orkney Islands poem called Háttalykill.