Orkney sat under Norse rule for close to 600 years, and the inheritance is still there in the place names, the burial mounds and the way the islanders speak. Highland Park pulled that history forward, put a god's name on the label and let the strength do the talking.
The expert's description
Highland Park Thor 16 Year Old The Valhalla Collection Single Orkney Malt Scotch Whisky 52.1% is a Single Orkney Malt Scotch Whisky matured for 16 years in oak casks and bottled at 52.1%.
Thor opened The Valhalla Collection, a set of four releases named after figures from Norse mythology. The god of thunder came first, followed one at a time by Loki, Freya and Odin, and the series has long since closed. The outturn for Thor was 23,000 bottles spread across the world.
The bottle sits inside a frame of curved wooden staves shaped after the prow of a longship. The packaging is not decoration for its own sake. Kirkwall, the town the distillery stands above, was founded by Norsemen, and Highland Park has built its identity on that connection for decades rather than on the Scottish Highlands its name suggests.
At 52.1% this sits well above the distillery's core range, and you feel it. The malt stands closer together, the peat smoke takes up more room, and the oak spice steps forward instead of waiting in the background. In return it takes water better than most.
Tasting notes
Nose
Toasted malt and dark honey sit heavy in the glass, with ripe peach and a trace of red berries above them. The peat announces itself as warm spice rather than bonfire.
Palate
Powerful, but it does not hit. Caramel and honey arrive first, then ginger, cinnamon and dry oak spice, with an earthy peat smoke running underneath and holding the whole thing together.
Finish
Long and slightly dry. The ginger lingers alongside vanilla and oak, and the smoke is the last thing to let go.
Specifications
Name: Highland Park Thor 16 Year Old The Valhalla Collection Single Orkney Malt Scotch Whisky 52.1%
Distillery: Highland Park
Region/Country: Orkney, Scotland
Type: Single Orkney Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 16 years
ABV: 52.1%
Size: 70 CL
Number of bottles: 23,000
Edition: The Valhalla Collection, Thor
EAN no.: 5010314094607
Flavour profile
Smoky · Spicy · Full-bodied · Honeyed · Powerful
Investment potential
High. Thor is the opening bottle in a closed series, the outturn was 23,000 bottles worldwide, and a great many of them have been drunk. Collectors chasing all four gods are usually short of the starting point, and a 16 year old Highland Park at this strength has no equivalent in the current range.
Did you know?
Orkney belonged to the Danish-Norwegian crown until 1468, when Christian I pledged the islands as part of his daughter Margaret's dowry to the Scottish king. The money was never paid, and the islands never went back.
See our full range of Highland Park
Listen to our podcast:
