Highland Park 50 Year Old 2020 Release has a story to tell. A long, quiet story that owes its remarkable conclusion to the gentle influence of Orkney’s temperate climate, to our quest for balance and our desire for harmony.

Gordon Motion, our Master Whisky Maker, selected nine refill casks first laid down in 1968 and married them together in 2008. Re-racked into first-fill sherry seasoned oak casks, they were left to harmonise for a further 12 years. In 2020 he selected just one European oak butt and married it with some of our 2018 batch of 50 Year Old, kept back specifically for this purpose.

If you’re fortunate enough to taste this exceptional whisky, you’ll find delicate aromas of ripe black cherries, sweet Muscovado sugar, peaches and rich dark chocolate, conveyed on a whisper of new leather and soft peat smoke. A complex and vibrant intensity of flavours follows with exotic spices, candied orange peel, toasted oak and ripe apricots delivering a deliciously rich yet fragrant sweetness. Dry spices and the impression of dark espresso coffee linger at the finish, enrobed in aromatic peat smoke.

Each of the 274 bottles has been personally signed by Gordon Motion, Master Whisky Maker and will be available through specialist retailers, globally

We’ve been crafting our award-winning single malt whisky at the Highland Park Distillery in Kirkwall, Orkney, since 1798. Age, experience and respect for tradition may define our whisky, but it’s Orkney that sets it apart. Something magic happens here and the result is the wild harmony of flavours found in our whisky.