Highland Park 56 comes from the same line that has produced some of the distillery’s oldest and rarest whiskies.
Highland Park’s master whisky maker, Gordon Motion, said: “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.”
In 2008, during his first year as master whisky maker, Motion identified ten casks from 1968 with potential. He gave the whisky a second maturation in first-fill sherry-seasoned casks which have gone on to produce some of the oldest and rarest whiskies from the distillery, including Highland Park 56.
Motion continued: “As casks are natural products, and each of them unique, I broadly know what I’ll get from each, but every now and then I find something interesting that just stops me in my tracks and that’s exactly what I experienced with these ten. The second maturation has allowed me to push them even further and I know we’ve created something special. It’s exciting to share the 56 for the first time.”
The presentation of the whisky was created by John Galvin and Michael Rudak to tell the story of the distillery’s Orkney home, inspired by the Standing Stones of Stenness, which were created over 5,000 years ago and thought to be the earliest henge monument on the British Isles.
Only 170 bottles of Highland Park 56 (47.1% abv) have been created and are available globally, with an rrp of £40,000.
Limited bottles of Highland Park 56 Year Old are available through select whisky specialists such as The Whisky Shop and Berry Brothers & Rudd, and retailers including Harrods.
