Highland Park Dark Origins is a new core bottling that celebrates the early days of Magnus Eunson’s illicit distilling on Orkney, back before the distillery was even founded in 1798. Magnus worked as a butcher and church official by day, but by night he was a legendary whisky smuggler and distiller outwitting the exciseman.
To honour their hero (the Batman of the Orkney Islands, if you will), Highland Park have created a whisky with a suitably ‘dark’ character. Using 80% first-fill Sherry casks (20% refill) – 60% are first-fill European oak, with 20% being first-fill American oak – an exciting, spicy, chocolatey whisky has been produced.
Dark Origins uses double the amount of first fill sherry oak casks used in Highland Park 12 year old, allowing for a far richer taste than almost all other Highland Park expressions.
NOSE – Sherried spice and ripe bananas combine with roasted hazelnuts and baked apple.
PALATE – Well-balanced, dry peat at first mellowing out to maraschino cherries, warm dark chocolate entices the palate.
FINISH – Enduring sweet smoke.