WHISKIES FROM ORKNEY: HIGHLAND PARK VIKING
SERIES AS A TRIBUTE TO
ODIN
The
Valkyries go weaving with drawn swords,
Hild
and Hjorthrimul, Sanngrid and Svipul.
Spears
will shatter, shields will splinter,
Swords
will knaw like wolves through armour.
Celebrating the Island's
600 years of Norse rule, this limited edition series was created in
collaboration with Danish internationally renowned designer and true Viking soul, Jim Lyngvild, with
each of the whiskies hand-selected by Master Whisky Maker Gordon Motion.
HIGHLAND PARK VALKYRIE
According to the old Norse sagas, for Viking warriors, death was not an end but a glorious beginning. And it began with the Valkyries…Their whisky, like their island home, is shaped by a wild climate and
stormy seas, and by the Vikings who settled here over 1,000 years ago, leaving
their mark on the local people and culture.
Plunging down from the
dark heavens, the Valkyries would descend like avenging angels on horseback to
comb the battlefields for the bravest of the fallen warriors, heroes fit to
enter the great Norse God Odin’s hall, Valhalla.
VALKYRIE celebrates their rich Nordic ancestry here on Orkney,
where they were once part of a vast Viking kingdom. Exquisitely balanced and delivering wave upon wave of warm aromatic smoke and
richly ripened fruit, VALKYRIE is the first in a series of three special Viking
Legend releases and has just been awarded the Chairman’s Trophy in the 2017
Ultimate Spirits Challenge, scoring 99 out of 100.
Natural Cask-Driven Colour:
Fiery amber
Flavours:
Green apples | Sun-ripened
lemons | Oriental spices | Vanilla |
Preserved ginger | Dark chocolate | Salty
liquorice | Warm aromatic smoke
Vol: 700/750ml depending on
country; ABV 45.9%.
HIGHLAND PARK VALKNUT
According to legend,
Vikings who met a fine and honourable death were marked out by the symbol of
the Valknut
and spirited away from the mortal world to the heavenly realm of Valhalla.
Created using a higher
proportion of local peated malt and
predominantly matured in sherry seasoned
oak casks to give this whisky its smoky, sweet flavour, VALKNUT is the second in the
Viking Legend series, celebrating their 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 earthly
life and heavenly life.
Natural Cask-Driven Colour:
Light and golden.
Flavours:
Toasted vanilla pods |
Cracked black pepper | Oak shavings |
Cloves | Aniseed | Aromatic peat smoke
Vol: 700/750ml depending
on country; ABV 46.8%
The Norse sagas tell us
that Odin, the mightiest of the ancient gods, takes on many guises and is known
by many names. As VALFATHER
– Father of the Slain – he presides over the golden hall of Valhalla.
The Highland Park Valfather completes the 2017
Viking Legend trilogy, following the Valkyrie and the Valknut, this third and final Viking Legend edition focusses
on the Norse godfather Odin himself. With its 47% ABV, the last to be created Valfather presents the
highest alcohol content of the trio.
The releases of the Viking
Legend trilogy are more like cousins and not siblings of the core
assortment. For these three single malts, a larger proportion of heavily peated
malt was used than usual in Highland Park whisky. And among the whiskies of the
Viking Legend series, Valfather is the smokiest and uses whiskies matured in
refill casks to reflect the “ethereal and lighter feel of Valhalla”, Odin’s
hall. The new whisky’s high phenol count is said to display Odin’s power.
HIGHLAND PARK VALFATHER –
the final whisky in a series of three special edition Viking Legend releases –
is the most peated whisky released to date; it is matured entirely in refill
casks to give beautifully balanced layers of flavour and a character as complex
as Odin himself.
Odin is associated with
wisdom and knowledge; with sorcery and poetry; with battle, frenzy and death.In outward appearance he was a tall, old man, with flowing beard and only one eye (the other he gave in exchange for wisdom.)
The old legends also tell us of the tame beasts who bring him both protection
and support – Sleipnir the eight-legged flying horse baring teeth inscribed with runes and the ability to gallop through the air and over the sea; the tame wolves, Geri and
Freki; and Huginn and Muninn, his loyal ravens – but is at the jaws of the
savage wolf, Fenrir, that Odin finally meets his end at Ragnarök.
Odin is called All-Father
because he is the father of all the gods. He is also called Father of the Slain
[Val-Father] because all who fall in
battle are his adopted sons. With them, he mans Valhalla…
Natural Cask-Driven Colour:
Bright gold
Flavours:
Sweet apple | Fragrant pear | Crème brûlée |
Toasted cedar wood | Smoked paprika | Aromatic peat smoke
Vol: 700/750ml depending
on country. ABV 47%.
Highland Park Valhalla Collection
 |
| THOR LOKI FREYA ODIN |
Highland Park’s
Norse-inspired Valhalla Collection comprises four expression named after Nordic
gods: Thor, Loki, Freya and Odin. The creators attempted to reflect the
characterisations of each Norse God in the whisky’s appearance and flavour,
from the “fresh, golden and seductive” Freya – the Goddess of Love – to the
“intense, powerful and complex” flavours of Odin.
OTHER Classics From
Highland Park
FRESH DEVELOPMENTS![]()
Highland Park announced in early June that it had agreed upon a new three-year partnership with the Bayreuther Festspiele. The festival, which is probably the most prestigiuos classical music festival in the world, was founded in 1876 by the German composer Richard Wagner.
Combining Nordic and Germanic myths and legends!
Why a collaboration between a German festival and the Scottish distillery Highland Park? Beam Suntory's press release has all the answers. Under the tagline “Combining legends" it states that the partnership recognises the shared passion for Nordic legends as much as it values its heritage and craftsmanship. The ancestors of the Highland Park team are Vikings, who once settled in the home of the Scottish distillery, Orkney. Even today, the myths of the warriors lie behind new bottlings from Highland Park, as well as Brünnhilde. The eponymous figure from the epic "The Ring of the Nibelung" by the founder of the festival, Richard Wagner, served as an inspiration for the name of the new single cask bottling. The German composer often used Nordic and German mythical and legend sources for his masterful pieces of music.
Three single casks will be released starting with Brünnhilde at the end of July this year. Highland Park describes Brünnhilde as a whisky thas been matured for eleven years in a sherry seasoned oak cask. Naturally dark amber in colour, it reveals notes of creamy vanilla, caramelised pineapple, sweet heather honey, fresh lemon zest and fiery ginger, shrouded in their trademark light peat smoke.
Tasting Notes: Highland Park Brünnhilde 56% ABV.
Colour: natural dark amber.
Nose: creamy vanilla, caramelized pineapple, creamy honey and light peat smoke.
Palate: sweet, light vanilla with hints of oak nuances, fruity lemon zest, a hint of ginger and peat smoke.
Finish: long-lasting sweet and light smoky notes.
From the end of July, it will be available exclusively through Spirituals, the exclusive partner of the Bayreuth Festival. The bottle and its sackcloth bag will be black in colour.
