A little lineup of Highland Parks of various ages


August 7, 2026

A little lineup of Highland Parks
of various ages

After Bowmore (709), and well behind Caol Ila (935), Highland Park should be the next distillery for which we will have published seven hundred different tasting notes. We're currently sitting at 688, although we imagine that sort of detail is of interest only to the tiny handful of number crunchers among WF's ever-so-distinguished readers. So, let's get on with it...
The first HP we'll try can only bring to mind that well-worn joke: "I know a chef who always cooks with Highland Park whisky. Sometimes, he even puts some in the food." (Jim Henson + AI)

Highland Park 16 yo ‘Between You and I’ (48%, OB, 2025)

A rather eclectic and inventive mix of casks, including Virgin Swedish oak, although we have to confess its purpose rather escapes us. Another Viking saga, perhaps? What's more, the price strikes us as rather steep for a 16-year-old that's not bottled at cask strength (€150), but that certainly won't stop us continuing to adore Highland Park. Besides, this baby appears to have been created in collaboration with a renowned Swedish chef, not the one from the Muppets mind you. As long as it wasn't the fellow who invented Ikea's Huvudroll meatballs... Colour: full gold. Nose: no meatballs here, rather fudge, peanut oil, touches of camphor and embrocation, the sort that's supposed to soothe sprains and the assorted aches of active people, lightly smoky salted caramel, modelling clay, and the faintest coastal edge. Go on then, a wink of common periwinkle. A lovely nose in any case, rather subtle. Mouth: beautifully coherent, although more assertive, with dry sherry and peat taking the lead, a salinity that's more obvious on the palate than it was on the nose, then a curious touch of oil paint and even a drop of turpentine. Plenty of deeply toasted walnuts in the aftertaste. Finish: fairly long, firmly in a peaty, peppery register that, truth be told, has absolutely nothing to do with Talisker. Just to put those rumours to bed, you understand. Comments: we still prefer Highland Parks that stay closer to the distillate, but we have to admit that this baby, chef or no chef, is very well put together indeed. In the end, there's even the faintest Laphroaig-esque whisper.
SGP:462 - 85 points.

Highland Park 8 yo ‘Old Orkney’ (47%, Decadent Drinks, bourbon and sherry refill hogsheads and butts)

Highland Park 8 yo ‘Old Orkney’ (47%, Decadent Drinks, bourbon and sherry refill hogsheads and butts)
Remember that Old Orkney, aka O.O., was Stromness before the war, then Gordon & MacPhail, and is now Decadent Drinks. It's an emblematic name, and since we had the singular pleasure of tasting two or three Stromness bottlings over the years, let's see whether this young new O.O. has taken any inspiration from them whatsoever. Colour: pale gold. Nose: the first piece of good news is that it's pleasantly saline and mustardy, not smoky like Stromness, but with a little imagination we can spot a few family resemblances. Above all, it's pure, with seaweed and earthy roots taking centre stage. Pickled samphire, Chinese mushrooms, flint and gentian. Mouth: it's on the palate that this youngster gives that famous Swedish chef the hardest time, much livelier, sharper, saltier and more maritime, packed with little smoky aromatic herbs. The sherry, refill or otherwise, has contributed pepper and walnuts, as it so often does. Finish: long, slightly oily, with a faint engine oil note, but also plenty of lemon, grapefruit and, above all, salt. Comments: we think this is a splendid success. There are echoes of the excellent 10-year-old the distillery used to make a few years ago. A very strong contender for BFYB of the month (£50).
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Well, victory without peril brings no glory, does it? So, let's have another little 8-year-old...

Highland Park 8 yo (100 proof, Gordon & MacPhail, UK, +/1970)

We have already tasted quite a number of these 8-year-olds from various eras, but we have to admit that the 100 proof versions have generally been magnificent. As you will have gathered, the idea is not really to compare this genuine legend with the excellent young O.O. Although perhaps we may uncover a thread of kinship after all... Colour: amber. Nose: utterly magnificent, with the proverbial heather honey, mango preserve, tobacco, earth freshly soaked by the first summer rain, a little maple syrup, and a veritable cavalcade of tiny spices and herbs, all displaying astonishing complexity. An absolutely majestic nose, although that hardly comes as a surprise. With water: smoky honeys and saline earth. The well-mannered taster will bow right down to the ground. Mouth (neat): simply unbelievable and, would you believe it, there really is a family resemblance with the saline peatiness of the young O.O. Seriously, we're not joking, nor are we currying favour with D.D. Promise. Cross our hearts. If we're lying, we deserve to go straight to hell. Sublime preserved lemons, wonderful umami and glorious mushrooms. Citrus zests of every description. Right, let's move on... With water: little mint leaves, embrocations, noble citrus fruits and seaweed, with an extra touch of honeyed sweetness. Finish: very long, more rooty, smoky and lightly caramelised, with breathtaking elegance. Comments: one of the greatest young malt whiskies of all time, alongside a select few others such as the Samaroli Glen Garioch. Absolutely. We should add, since that was the whole point of the exercise, that there really is a common thread running through these two 8-year-olds. A thread stretching back well over fifty years...
SGP:563 - 94 points.

Secret Orkney (HP) 25 yo 2000/2026 (52.6%, Sansibar & The Whisky Agency, cream sherry butt)

Our friends have thoughtfully specified 'HP' on the label, just in case anyone might mistake it for Scapa. Incidentally, it's rather a shame that independent Scapa has all but disappeared these days. Colour: full gold. Nose: Highland Park really is a remarkable malt when it's not dressed up a little too heavily. Here it's magnificently earthy, rooty, lemony, maritime and gently medicinal, before becoming increasingly waxy over time. Splendid. With water: oops, we hadn't even noticed how discreetly that famous cream sherry had slipped into the background... Mouth (neat): this is lovely, simply delicious! Green pepper and lemon to begin with, then seawater and ashes, followed by toasted walnuts and a few shellfish. The whole affair is beautifully steered towards elegant bitters. With water: very little changes, apart from a little more citrus and a few extra earthy notes. Finish: long, drier and more peppery, with green walnuts making a late appearance. Still not much sign of any obvious 'cream', should we really regret that? Comments: simply excellent, only the finish is just a shade less perfectly balanced, but once again we're really splitting hairs...
SGP:462 - 89 points.

Highland Park 22 yo 2003/2026 (55.9%, Thompson Bros., refill sherry wood, 336 bottles)

Lovely label, with a distinctly Italian flair. Colour: full gold. Nose: this time we're heading more towards mirabelle and apricot preserves, quince jelly and acacia honey, while the camphory, earthy and smoky elements have been pushed rather into the background. Still, there's really no reason to lodge a complaint with the Malt Whisky Police, is there. With water: beer, wort and yeast come bubbling back to the surface here, gently reminding us of the origins of this wonderful spirit. Flint and basalt. Mouth (neat): much livelier, sharper, smokier and pepperier, almost acidic, with delicate touches of aniseed alongside camphor lotion. All in all, it's the most medicinal of the line-up. With water: the salinity and rooty character move firmly back to centre stage. Finish: long, lively, earthy and consistently rooty. Comments: this is probably not the sort of friendly Highland Park for mothers-in-law and grandfathers. They'd be better off sticking with the official bottlings. As for us, we love it.
SGP:462 - 88 points.

Highland Park is probably one of those distillates where, whatever you do and whatever you say, the casks will always play second fiddle to the spirit itself. While as it happens, we could indeed have reached our 700th Highland Park today, but let's not overdo things, that milestone can wait until next time. Right then, one last wee dram, and let's pick a cask of suitably venerable age..

Highland Park 35 yo 1988/2024 (50.1%, Aquavitae & Shinanoya, Divine Beasts, hogshead, 150 bottles)

The label rather reminds us of those gung fu cha tea trays adorned with little bronze or cast-iron toads that are ceremoniously doused with the first rinsing waters to bring good fortune, happiness and, perhaps above all, to provide a respectable destination for those first infusions that nobody would really know what to do with anyway. At least, that's our interpretation, that of a poorly brought-up Westerner. Colour: gold. Nose: a lovely marriage of peanut oil and mango juice, joined by hints of rose, jasmine, heather and apricot liqueur, before damp slate quietly enters the scene. The cask has behaved impeccably, everything remains wonderfully fresh, almost youthful. With water: bruised mint leaves, proper tweed, grist and sourdough. Finding sourdough after 35 years in oak fills us with quiet delight. Mouth (neat): splendid, taut, spicy and absolutely packed with citrus, then becoming increasingly mineral, exactly as the nose had suggested. Chalk, clay and crushed slate. Beyond that, mango and apricot return, now accompanied by pink grapefruit. The liveliness is just perfect, and so is the balance. With water (just a drop): essentially the same composition, with earthier pepper and the fruits taking a slight step backwards. No real issue, although frankly, you may as well leave these old creatures alone once they're hovering around 50% vol. Finish: fairly long, surprisingly fermentary despite all those years. Comments: it rather lost a point or two after we added water. We probably should have resisted. In any case, a wonderful bottle, and certainly no toad. We mean a toad as viewed by Westerners, of course. Mind you, we do seem to have a chief toad in D.C., you know, a yellow-tinted specimen...
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Right then, just for a little historical perspective...

Highland Park 18 yo (43%, OB, +/-2005)

We were just having a score for this one (WF 88) and no tasting notes, so it was more than time to add some tasting note, for the cause, since we were having a bottle. Quite a few people seem to miss these older labels, or so it appears to us. Then again, they also miss Jefferson Airplane, don't they... Colour: gold. Nose: a little dry, but certainly peaty and earthy, with dried herbs, aniseed, a touch of horseradish and another of lavender. The 43% vol. is beginning to show its age after twenty years, at least on the nose, but let's see what the palate has to say... Mouth: decidedly peatier than we remembered, pepperier too, drier, edging closer to a fino sherry style, with old walnuts, plenty of humus, lavender, pepper, bitter oranges and mint. The 43% vol. is no longer an issue here. Finish: almost long, distinctly earthy and floral. We would lean more towards lavender than the proverbial heather, although the pepper in the aftertaste sweeps much of that aside anyway. Comments: we shouldn't romanticise old bottles too much, and time can also leave its mark on whisky in bottle, but this remains an excellent malt, rather less civilised than expected.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

After this enjoyable little session, we're left thinking that Highland Park is rather like certain rums, age seems to matter rather less to the overall quality of an expression than it does with many other malts and whiskies. We could almost coin the following little equation, if we dared: HP = HD. Mind you, people usually say HD = Ardbeg... Oh, never mind, just forget all that... Next time, we should have our 700th HP.

Check the index of all Highland Park we've tasted