Highland Park Whisky
Welcome to our island world
At Highland Park, we’re inspired every day not just by the distinctive flavour of our local heathered peat, but the creative, open-minded culture of our island community. Whether it’s all down to the awe-inspiring local nature, the neolithic monuments or the sense of freedom you get from living far from the mainland, people here tend to march to their own beat. It’s an Orkney thing, which, we think, gives us a different approach to whisky and to life. But it’s probably best explained by the locals themselves…
Phylida Wright
Grandmother, hiker, drama queen, local legend.
Phylida has lived in Orkney for over 50 years and the longer she’s stayed, the more friends she’s made—whether that’s through starring in local theatre productions or her own family of four children and eight grandchildren . She loves her home for the tranquillity and nature—as well as the smell of smoked barley that drifts across the landscape from the Highland Park distillery. But, she says, one of Orkney’s other great strengths is its unpretentious attitude—which encourages people to be themselves.
“In Orkney, you’re taken for what you are. It doesn’t matter what you are or what you do. You’re just there. There’s a freedom to be human.”
Gary Skea
Warehouse operator, powerlifter.
Gary has lived in Orkney all his life and worked for the past five years in the cooperage at our distillery in Kirkwall. As a warehouse operator, he works to fill our casks with new make spirit and safely stow them for aging. But, like most Orcadians, he has a couple of side hustles too, and is both a football coach and a player for local team Rendall FC. He puts Highland Park’s unique flavour down to not just the local heathered peat, but also the local pride of the people that make it.
“There’s a little bit of passion that goes into the job. It’s from Orkney, where we’re from, so you’re wanting it to be the best possible. To show that what we do is special.”
Louise & Megumi Barrington
Artists, co-conspirators, chosen sisters.
Louise, an Orkney native and Megumi, originally from Osaka, Japan, are artists, sisters-in-law and frequent collaborators. Louise’s work, which includes sculpture, textiles and filmmaking, is inspired by the shifting patterns of nature in our island home. Megumi, meanwhile, is interested in bringing together traditional Japanese printing techniques and the local craft culture. Though both have worked and studied across the globe, Orkney holds a special fascination for them, thanks both to its ever-changing natural environment and its vibrant creative community.
Louise:
“I was always coming home. Like a bird coming back to its nest. Being back here, I’m able to really think about what I’m doing with my practice.”
Megumi:
“There are little miracles everywhere here. You just have to be aware.”
Noel Thomson
Farmer, nature lover, island man.
Noel is the only resident of Fara island, one of the roughly 70 islands that make up the Orkney Archipelago. There—when he isn’t simply soaking up the solitude with some good records and good whisky—he looks after a flock of sheep and works to regenerate the island’s landscape and ecosystems. It’s only now and then, when he needs supplies, that he’ll hop across the water on his rib boat. But he’s far from isolated, even on his own island—in fact, he says, one of the most special things about Orcadians is their convivial nature.
“I get visitors that come by boat. There’s folk that drop by and we’ll have a dram.” It always confounds me when I go anywhere else. “You can just drop in on somebody here. You don’t need an appointment.”
