Highland Park – 17 Year Old Ice Edition (70cl, 53.9%)

Highland Park – 17 Year Old Ice Edition is a whisky from Highland Park (Islands). Aged 17 years, bottled at 53.9% ABV, 70cl. Highland Park remains the most northerly whisky distillery in Scotland, although not by much, as it is little more than a stone’s throw from fellow Orcadian, Scapa. Accounts of the distillery’s genesis vary, and the truth is probably lost to the mists of time, but it is thought that a local farmer named David Robertson founded what we now know as Highland Park distillery in 1798, on the site of an illicit still operated by nefarious smuggler (and former priest) Magnus Eunson. Since its introduction as a single malt in the late 1970s, the distillery has been awarded many plaudits, not least of which came from the late, great whisky writer Michael Jackson, who called it “the greatest all rounder in the world of whisky”. It’s characteristic style coming from the use of Sherry casks, along with an often cited heathery sweetness imparted to the spirit by way of the distinct Orcadian peat used during the malting process. In another nod to its Norse heritage, this is the first in a series of themed releases of this type from the Orcadian masters. Similarities have been drawn between this release and the lovely Freya release, although this expression has more of a kick to it! “According to legend, the ice realm, Niflheim, is the homeplace of darkness, cold, ice and frost. The first Ice Giant, Ymir, was born at the beginning of time when the edge of the realm melted from the heat of the neighbouring fire realm, Muspelheim, and he is the first creature mentioned in Norse creation mythology. As Ymir slept, he gave birth to the Jotun family, a race of powerful Ice Giants standing at over 20 feet high and known as the Gods of Creation. When they shook, fought or sneezed, it caused earthquakes!” Please examine the images of the bottle.