Highland Park 56 is not only the oldest whisky Highland Park has ever created, but also one of the rarest. Created from a never-before tasted sherry-seasoned cask containing whisky first laid down in 1968, this is a truly remarkable whisky reflecting more than five decades of Highland Park craftsmanship with an intensely perfumed, beautifully complex flavour infused with the unmistakable essence of Orkney heathered peat.
In 2008, Master Whisky Maker Gordon Motion selected ten special casks, first laid down in 1968 that contained whiskies of an unusual flavour profile—both complex and intriguingly ethereal. Though these whiskies were already 40 years old at the time, they still seemed to be evolving in beautiful new ways, meaning they had a unique potential for further ageing.
Inspired by the unique flavours of these ten casks, Gordon decided to marry and re-rack them in a different set of first-fill, sherry-seasoned oak casks, laying them down so they could continue to develop and evolve. As each cask has its own unique fingerprint, each also aged differently, extracting its own distinct flavours from the sherry-seasoned wood. Highland Park 56 is crafted from just one of these casks—a first-fill, American oak puncheon.
Over more than half a century of cask maturation, Highland Park 56 has evolved into an aromatic, delicately spiced and almost impossibly deep whisky that sings with layers of beautifully balanced flavours, from floral notes of Jasmine and lilac on the nose to zingy citrus and black tea on the palate and wood spices and subtle peat smoke on the finish. It’s been bottled without filtering and additives, to showcase its natural deep copper colour from the cask.
The new presentation case and decanter for Highland Park 56 continue a creative partnership between master craftsperson John Galvin and glass designer Michael Rudak. Both designs, inspired by Orkney’s 5,000-year-old (and counting) Standing Stones of Stenness, explore how many generations of people have left their fingerprint on the dramatic landscapes of their island home—reflecting Highland Park’s deep connection to Orkney’s craft traditions and natural beauty.
