Highland Park creates ‘most peated whisky’

Edrington-owned Scotch brand Highland Park has unveiled the final whisky in its Viking Legend series, which is the distillery’s “most peated release to date”.

Valfather is the third release in Highland Park’s Viking Legend trilogy of whiskies

The third release in the trilogy is called Valfather, in honour of Norse god Odin, and uses whiskies matured in refill casks to reflect the “ethereal and lighter feel of Valhalla”, Odin’s hall.

The new whisky’s high phenol count is said to display Odin’s power.

Gordon Motion, master whisky maker at Highland Park, said: “Valfather and the whiskies in the Viking Legend series uses more of our heavily peated malt, making the series more like cousins, rather than a brother or sister to the core range. Overall, this whisky is the richest and smokiest in taste profile compared to the rest of the series and our classic whiskies.

“As well as our hallmark aromatic peat smoke, it tastes of creamy vanilla, toasted cedar wood with a long floral aromatic finish offset by notes of crisp apple and sweet fragrant pear.”

The Viking Legend series of whiskies rise in phenolic level throughout the collection and each have their own distinctive taste profile. The first expression, Valkyrie, uses predominantly European Sherry-seasoned oak, while Valknut uses American Sherry-seasoned oak and Orkney’s tartan barley.

Inspiration for Valfather’s packaging design came from the ancient picture stones from Stora Hammars in Gotland, Sweden. The brand partnered with Danish designer, Jim Lyndvild, to bring the collection to life.

Bottled at 47% abv, Highland Park Valfather carries an RRP of £60 (US$72) per 700ml bottle.