Highland Park, based in the Orkey isles, is one of the world’s best producers of single malt whisky. Their 18 year old and older varieties are basically whisky royalty, for which they have won numerous awards.
Highland Park are renowned for being quite experimental and varied in their whisky. Rather than some other distillleries that have characteristic tastes that are expanded upon and varied across their range, such as Glenmorangie, Highland Park whiskies vary from age to age and even across different iterations of the one age. For example, the 21 and 25 year old whiskies are quite different, but the current 25 year old batch is totally different to their 25 year old from a few years back. Over the last few years they have also been producing whisky based on some interesting concepts, such as their Valhalla collection, currently containing two whiskies based on the personalities of Loki and Thor. An interesting concept and a welcome experiment to the occasionally too-regimented world of Scotch whisky.
Highland Park’s entry to mid-level range also comes highly recommended. Whilst not as cheap as the ever-popular Glenlivet and Glenfiddich, they offer the drinker a little more complexity for their money, and more experienced whisky drinkers will probably find them more enjoyable.