The Fireside

  Official info follows below: This is a wonderfully rich and complex single malt. Opening with rich and spicy aromas of crème brulee, heather honey and crumbled cinnamon, intensely fruity notes follow - fresh pineapple dressed with a scattering of sun-kissed lemon zest. There’s a hint of freshly-baked sponge cake too, warm from the oven, and you’ll find cinnamon again, but toasted shards this time. Citrus and vanilla notes linger in the aromatic waves of peat smoke. To create 15 Year Old Viking Heart, Gordon Motion, our Master Whisky Maker, selected predominantly sherry seasoned European oak casks to deliver warm, spicy notes and sherry seasoned American oak casks to provide a balance of sweet vanilla. Expertly adding just a few refill casks to soften and smooth the flavours, Gordon chose to bottle at 44% ABV to allow the whisky’s vibrant fruitiness and distinctive heathery peat smoke to shine through. Why a ceramic decanter? Rewind a century or two and our whisky w...

Highland Park is my favourite whisky distillery. This could be because it was their 12 year old that got me into single malts. Of course, I like other distilleries, however I think it's the safe to say that I like Highland Park. Also, I love their 'viking theme.' Recently, the third and final of their Viking Legends series has come out here in Canada: Valfather. The second one was Valknut, and the first was Valkyrie. They have done other series like that in the past: Dark and Light, and Fire and Ice. I'm not sure what else they have planned on the horizon, however of what's out now, these are the following I'd like to try: CORE RANGE 18 year (Viking Pride) Slow-burning, aromatic peat from Hobbister Moor; hand turned floor maltings, Sherry seasoned European oak casks, cool maturation in our temperate island climate and a long and unhurried harmonisation process. Like our founder, Magnus Eunson, we share our Viking ancestors’ commitment to skilled craftsmanshi...

Highland Park's second of their Viking Legends series (the first being Valkyrie, the third being the upcoming Valfather) is now available in Canada. Or, Ontario, at least.  Here is what they have to say about it: "I know one thing which never dies: the reputation of each dead man" Poetic Edda, Hávamál, verse 77 STORY Created using a higher proportion of our local peated malt and predominantly matured in sherry seasoned oak casks to give this whisky its smoky, sweet flavour, VALKNUT is the second in our Viking Legend series, celebrating our rich Nordic ancestry here on Orkney. Valknut means ‘knot of those slain in battle’ and its symbol of three interlinked triangles appears on numerous artefacts from the Viking Age. The symbol is closely associated with the Norse god, Odin, who guided the spirits of the dead to the underworld and back to the world of the living, and is believed to represent the transition from life to death or the connection between ...