Tucked away in its rugged island home off the coast of Scotland, Highland Park has been crafting whisky since 1798, staying put in its windswept home of Kirkwall, Orkney for well over two hundred years.

It’s a place where trees struggle to take root against the relentless coastal gales, leaving the landscape blanketed in heather rather than forests. For this reason, the soil is infused with floral heather instead of woodsy root. This same heather is key to Orkney’s distinctive peat, which lends Highland Park its signature smoky-sweet character—an unmistakable aroma of smouldering heather rather than the dense, earthy peat smoke found elsewhere.

Most may be familiar with Highland Park’s original Viking-inspired bottle design of recent years. Now, Highland Park Distillery is embracing its island identity in a new way, unveiling a refreshed packaging design that this marks a departure into a more nature-centric aesthetic that speaks to the brand’s origins in its island home. This refreshed packaging design will apply to both Highland Park's core range and travel retail whiskies.

Highland Park 12 Years Old Single Malt

According to Highland Park, this update is an homage to the Orkney spirit. The new design brings in a colour palette meant to evoke the ethereal light and ever-shifting skies of the islands, where long summer days stretch into lingering sunsets. Each label now carries flecks of heather, a nod to the distillery’s distinctive flavour profile. 

Highland Park 15 Years Old Single Malt

The bottle design has also been updated, designed to let the whisky’s natural colour to shine through. A delicate wood-grain pattern weaves its way across the box packaging, a tribute to the sherry-seasoned oak casks that play a role in shaping Highland Park’s flavour.

Highland Park 18 Years Old Single Malt

Sustainability is also at the heart of the redesign. The new packaging swaps out traditional materials for 100% recyclable cardboard cartons, all sourced from FSC-certified forests.  

This refresh applies across the core range, including the 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old expressions, as well as the travel retail-exclusive 14- and 16-year-old whiskies.

Highland Park 16 Years Old Single Malt

The fresh look might stand out on the shelf, but fans of Highland Park will be assured that same spirit is still very much intact.

“Our 12- , 15- and 18-year-old whiskies sit as the heart and soul of Highland Park. It’s Orkney’s heathered peat that gives us our subtly smoky flavour and it’s as unique as the place it’s made. We know that’s what our community really love about Highland Park. With the packaging update, we have a great opportunity to celebrate a new look, whilst continuing to share the distinctive, consistent whisky we’re famed for. It’s a flavour that just can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world.”   

– Highland Park’s Master Whisky Maker, Gordon Motion

Apart from the travel retail exclusive expressions, these whiskies are available online at on Highland Park's official site. 

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team