Highland Park 56: The distillery's oldest single malt whisky

Highland Park has released a 56-year-old edition and is thus presenting its oldest single malt whisky. Only 170 bottles of it are being offered worldwide from today with a recommended retail price of £40,000.

Highland Park 56 goes back to 10 re-fill casks from 1968, whose potential was recognised by Master Whisky Maker Gordon Motion in 2008. He had the whisky transferred to five first-fill sherry casks for further maturation to give it more depth.This whisky line has already been used for several editions, now including this Highland Park 56.

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.”

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 Highland Park 56 is of course presented in a special decanter in a special box. The design was inspired by the Standing Stones of Stenness, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Orkney, explains the Highland Park press release. The impressive stone circle was erected more than 5,000 years ago.

Michael Rudak, glass designer, explains:“We were inspired by how man first began to touch and shape the land, utilising its natural materials to create something harmonious from something wild. The Standing Stones are arguably the most prominent and everlasting fingerprint of man on the island. They’re steeped in history, and I love how they evoke a sense of strength and rawness from every angle, but at the same time they’ve been placed so considerately to evoke a sense of welcoming and unity. They work with the nature around them, not against it. The stones reminded me about one of my favourite things about the distillery—it has been built organically over time as and when needed, never too much, always considered.”

Nose: Jasmine, lilac, sweet sultanas, cloudy honey and delicate peat smoke

Palate: Seville orange peel, coriander seeds and lapsang souchong tea

Finish: Fine woody spices, honey-soaked oak and fragrant heather peat smoke

Natural, cask-aged colour (without additives): Deep autumnal gold

Alcohol content: 47.1% vol

Images: Highland Park