The oldest and rarest single malt ever released by Orkney distillery Highland Park is a whiskey from an "exceptional" and never-tasted 1968 cask.
Image credit: Highland Park
Orkney is known for the enduring power of nature, but it is also a place where innovation is used to energize age-old craft. Highland Park's special flavor comes from its unique natural setting. Heather moorland is the result of trees struggling to develop due to invigorating breezes. The malted barley is smoked in Orkney's heather-rich peat, which adds a unique but delicate aroma of smoke to the finished whisky.
Highland Park 56 is the second time that master craftsmen John Galvin and Michael Rudak have worked together to use the whisky's packaging to tell the tale of the distillery's Orkney home.
The sherry-seasoned oak cask used to finish the single malt whisky was one of ten casks chosen by Gordon Motion in 2008, his first year as a master whisky producer.
"Our oldest and rarest whiskies are the pinnacle of Highland Park's craft. I generally know what I'll receive from each cask because they are all natural things, but occasionally I come across something intriguing that simply stops me cold, and that's precisely what happened with these ten. I've been able to push them even farther thanks to the second maturation, and I'm confident we've produced something unique." ~ Gordon Motion
The unique nature, culture, and craft of Orkney, which have been developed on the islands for thousands of years, served as the inspiration for the 56's design. While Highland Park's unique, delicate smoke from the local heathered peat shines brilliantly through the whisky, the decanter and presentation case design are influenced by the Standing Stones of Stenness, a significant site of World Heritage status in Orkney that explores humanity's fingerprint on the islands.
“Highland Park 54 was all about how Orkney was created and the geological make-up of the islands. What we wanted to do for the 56 was to continue this story and explore humanity’s fingerprint on the islands and that dynamic relationship with the land and the use of all the beautiful, natural materials and resources. When we visited the Standing Stones of Stenness which are ancient, incredible, and a real celebration of the craft of the people who created them thousands of years ago, this heavily influenced the design. I pulled through elements and textures created with the 54 to create harmony and I designed the presentation case to stand very proud, the shape is almost an abstract version of two of the standing stones. I used an equal combination of precision engineering and craft to create the presentation case to respect that interaction between human and nature.” ~ Master crafter, John Galvin
There are just 170 bottles of Highland Park 56 available. The whisky will go on sale worldwide on January 22, 2025.
Highland Park provided tasting notes that emphasize woody spice, orange peel, coriander seeds, flowers, and heathery peat smoke.
“What excites me most about the 56 whisky is that it has both complexity and vibrancy, even after all these years, the distinctive character of Highland Park’s Orkney heathered-peat stands out. There isn’t the intense woodiness that I’d typically expect to taste in a whisky of this age. The 56 has all the complexity and depth you’d expect of an aged whisky, but you can absolutely taste the distinctive, subtle smoke of our Orkney heathered peat which really makes this whisky remarkable.” ~ Gordon Motion
A 54-year-old is one of the high-age expressions that Highland Park has previously released. Last year, Duncan Taylor launched a Highland Park 54-year-old under its own bottling line.
