Highland Park is the most northerly single malt distillery in
Scotland, situated in Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. It is geographically
closer to Norway than it is to London.
The distillery was founded in 1798 by Magnus Eunson, a butcher and
church official by day, and a successful smuggler by night. Ironically, the
distillery eventually ended up in the hands of the excise officer who arrested
Eunson for smuggling.
Highland Park is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to malt its
own barley and its two wash stills and two spirit stills can produce as much as
2.5 million liters a per year of a spirit that has repeatedly caught the eye
of, and attracted the highest praise from, critics and drinkers. Described by
British whiskey writer Michael Jackson as "the greatest all-rounder in the
world of malt whisky", the house style is slightly peaty, slightly smoky
and slightly sweet.
The whisky comes in several styles, from the core range – featuring
expressions ranging in age from 12 to 40 years old – to special bottlings and
the Warrior series, which celebrates Orkney's Viking heritage.
Highland Park is owned by the Edrington Group, and is an ingredient
of the Famous Grouse blend.
