This limited-edition whisky represents the brand’s most pronounced expression yet of Orkney’s aromatic heathered peat. The Orkney distillery’s peat is sourced from Hobbister Moor, just a few miles down the road from it in Kirkwall. At this remote northern latitude, the landscape comes alive with a purple carpet of heather. It has infused itself into the moor resulting in peat with a floral character.

Bottled at cask strength (127.2 proof), Cask Strength: Heather is crafted using 100% Orkney peat-smoked barley and matured in first-fill European and American sherry-seasoned oak casks and select refill casks.

The packaging design of the whisky puts a heather spin on Highland Park’s new visual identity, inspired by the brand’s Orkney provenance. On the box a deep purple gradient nods to the shifting colors of the heather on Hobbister Moor in summer.

The whisky is the first of Highland Park’s refreshed Cask Strength releases, through which the brand will continue to explore expressions of its Orkney character and provenance through craftsmanship.

Highland Park Cask Strength: Heather is available exclusively at ReserveBar until January for $80.

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Highland Park is taking its connection to Vikings to new “depths” via the Draken Harald Hårfagre Expedition America East Coast Tour 2018.

The partnership between “the Orkney Single Malt with Viking Soul” and genuine recreation of a Viking ship is to inspire people to seek adventure, embrace challenges and realize their daydreams just as their founders did.

“The Draken ship and its journey exemplify the spirit of the modern-day Viking and everything that Highland Park stands for: determination, adventure, quality craftsmanship and rich history,” remarked Martin Markvardsen, Highland Park’s Senior Global Brand Ambassador. “Our founder Magnus Eunson was a direct descendant of the Vikings who settled on Orkney over 1,000 years ago and today, our whisky continues to be crafted in the old way by a new generation of Vikings. Highland Park is proud to be an official partner of the Draken ship and honored to support its vision and tour of the United States.”

The tour, which began on July 9th in Connecticut, will see the Norwegian ship travel from Maine to South Carolina, visiting 14 harbors over the span of four months. Each stop offers an opportunity to relive history including an arrival ceremony, guided deck tours, a Viking Village installation, Highland Park whisky tastings and screenings of the new Draken documentary, which traces the ship’s journey from Norway to the U.S., following in the footsteps of the Vikings who made the first transatlantic crossing and discovered the New World more than a thousand years ago.

There are only a few dates left on the tour, so make sure you catch it before the Vikings shove off with the last bottle of Highland Park.

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