Highland Park has revealed its oldest release in quite some time.
Highland Park 50 Year Old single-malt Scotch whisky is a very-limited release of only 274 bottles globally. Each is individually numbered, and signed by Highland Park’s longest-serving whisky-maker, Max McFarlane.
“We bottled this Highland Park 50 Year Old from just two sherry-seasoned Spanish hogshead casks laid down in 1964, over half a century ago,” says McFarlane. “We first discovered the casks in 2008, at the back of warehouse number seven, and we were astonished by their incredible flavor.”
Rich with an ABV of 42.5%, the whisky is clear and bright with a deep ruby color. It’s sweet at first, with notes of ripe black cherries and Muscovado sugar giving way to dried autumn fruits and warm, toasted wood, the company says. The hint of cedar wraps around Highland Park’s signature light peat smoke.
“Bringing two hogsheads of such extremely rare liquid off the island to be ‘married’ at our warehouse in Glasgow was not without its challenges,” recalls McFarlane. “Justifiably nervous of the whisky’s great rarity, we decided that the two casks simply couldn’t be allowed to travel together. Rather, like members of the Royal Family, each cask made its journey alone, one in September and one in October 2009. Briefly parted after nearly 50 years spent side by side, the two hogsheads were reunited — the whisky ‘married’ — for a further eight years.”
“When we brought these two 1964 hogsheads together, we also introduced a small amount of our original 50 Year Old, first released in 2010, a 1960 vintage,” he adds. “It means there’s a thread of continuity, a legacy within a legacy, in each of these 274 bottles.”
Highland Park 50 Year Old comes in an embossed and decorative glass bottle, created by Scottish designer Andy Bowman. An oak box designed and handcrafted by Scottish master craftsman John Galvin holds a polished crystal decanter, and a brown leather book about the development of this 50 Year Old.
Only 77 bottles of Highland Park 50 Year Old will be available stateside via select spirits retailers this fall at an suggested retail price of $15,000 per 750-ml. bottle.
