Highland Park 15 Year Old is a lightly peated single malt from Orkney, the northernmost island region of Scotland. It is a single malt from the core range of the Highland Park distillery, located on Orkney, one of the Scottish island groups. After a break in production, the expression returned to the permanent line-up, and in 2024 it received a packaging refresh, while the liquid itself remained unchanged.
The distillery was founded in 1798, and before that an illicit still was run on this site by the "whisky priest" Magnus Eunson. A distinctive feature of the plant is that it is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to malt part of its barley on site – around 25% of the malt it needs, which it dries with Orkney peat, before combining it with unpeated barley from the commercial maltster Simpson's. The heather-rich peat lends the smoke a floral, gentle character.
Maturation is based on sherry-seasoned casks. The whisky is created from a marriage of spirit matured in first-fill sherry-seasoned American oak casks and first-fill sherry-seasoned European oak casks, as well as in a proportion of refill casks, which balance the contrasting flavours. The spirit is bottled at a slightly elevated strength of 44%, which lends its complex notes greater definition. The colour is natural, coming from the cask.
On the nose and the palate, sweetness and fruit lead the way, garnished with gentle smoke. The producer points to honey-glazed pineapple, vanilla bean, toasted cinnamon, lemon zest and heathered peat smoke. The 15-year-old version brings a little more smoke to the palate than the younger expression, though it is softened by sweeter notes of vanilla and honey, accompanied by resinousness, cinnamon and the floral accents of Orkney heather. Towards the finish, cinnamon comes through more strongly, along with soft notes of warm leather and peat smoke, while the finish itself is balanced, though not especially long.