Highland Park Single Malt
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Highland Park Single Malt is a Scotch whisky distilled by Highland Park Distillery, Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, the northernmost distillery in Scotland, a half mile north from that of Scapa.
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[edit] Production and character
The distillery was founded in 1798. The name of this whisky does not refer to the area of Scotland known as The Highlands, from which the Orkney Islands are excluded, but rather to the fact that the distillery was founded on an area distinguished from a lower area nearby.
Highland Park is one of the few distilleries to malt its own barley, using locally cut peat from Hobbister Moor. The peat is then mixed with heather before being used as fuel. The malt is peated to a level of 20 parts per million phenol, and then mixed with unpeated malt produced on the Scottish mainland.
In 1984, Highland Park was the only whisky ever to have scored a rating of 100% by the regular tasting team of The Scotsman, a national newspaper of Scotland. Whisky reviewer and expert Michael Jackson has called it "The greatest all-rounder in the world of malt whisky."
Highland Park is available in various proprietary bottlings by year, as well as a special bottling known as Cappella, available only at the distillery. In addition, several independent bottlings of Highland Park are produced. Highland Park is also one of the ingredients of the Famous Grouse blend.
[edit] Varieties
- Highland Park 12 year old: 43% abv.
- Highland Park 12 Year Old Cappella: Issued only as a limited edition of 5,400 bottles. 46% abv.
- Highland Park 15 year old: 40% abv.
- Highland Park 18 year old: 43% abv.
- Highland Park Lunar Bottling (18.6 years): Issued in celebration of the 18.6 cycle of the moon's nutation. 45.1% abv.
- Highland Park 24 year old: Issued in 1991 as a limited edition of 2000 bottles. Very hard to find. 43% abv.
- Highland Park 25 year old: 50.7% abv.
- Highland Park 25 year old (earlier bottling): 53.5% abv.
- Highland Park 30 Year old: 48.1 abv.
- Highland Park 1977, Bicentenary Vintage Reserve: 43% abv.
- Highland Park 1958 (40 year old): Issued in 1998 in a very limited edition of 665 bottles, coming with wooden presentation box, hand-blown decanter, and hardcover book about the history of whisky, signed by the Highland Park distillery manager, Jim Robertson.
[edit] See also
- Highland Distillers, the company that produces The Macallan
- Edrington Group and William Grant & Sons, owners of Highland Distillers
[edit] References
- Jackson, Michael (2004). Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch, 5th edition. Running Press, 309-311. ISBN 0-7624-1313-1.
- Lerner, Daniel (1998). Single Malt & Scotch Whisky. Könemann, 122-123. ISBN 3-8290-0418-4.
