Highland Park Cask Strength No. 4 Single Malt Whiskey 750ml

Highland Park distillery has made whisky on Orkney, off Scotland's northern coast, since 1798, and it remains one of the most remote and celebrated island distilleries in the country. Now owned by Edrington, Highland Park continues to malt a portion of its own barley using traditional floor maltings and Orcadian peat, giving its whisky the softer, heather-driven smoke that distinguishes it from the more medicinal peat of Islay. The Cask Strength series, first launched a few years ago, was the distillery's inaugural full-proof release and has since become an eagerly awaited annual expression.

Release No. 4 was matured across an unusually wide mix of cask types, including first-fill European oak sherry casks, sherry-seasoned American oak, ex-bourbon casks, first-fill ex-Port hogsheads, and a small portion of refill casks, all selected by the distillery's Master Whisky Maker. Bottled at natural cask strength around 64.3% ABV, it carries noticeably more intensity and peat character than Highland Park's standard-strength core range.

The nose combines toasted coconut, crushed lemon, and cedarwood with a distinctive Turkish delight sweetness and wisps of sooty peat smoke. On the palate, zesty pink grapefruit and fragrant rose water emerge alongside dark fruit and caramel, while the long finish brings warm baking spice, a thread of liquorice, and a final trace of floral peat smoke.