Standing Apart Not Standing Alone
We are the product of our people, our location and our history.
MADE WITH PRIDE ON ORKNEY
Our whisky, like our 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 our people and our culture.
Our Orkney Home
Our island home has its own distinct culture, climate and geology. It makes us what we are – proud to stand apart.
Our Viking Roots
The Vikings didn’t leave Orkney. They became part of it and part of us. Their story is our story.
OUR VIKING SOULS
There are people, near and far, whose passion and skill ensures that they – and our whisky – stand apart.
WAREHOUSE TEAM LEADER, BOATBUILDER AND OARSMAN
KEITH MOAR
Keith describes his job as a juggling of manpower and paperwork. With over 100,000 casks to look after, it’s perhaps a salutary lesson in self-deprecation. Away from the distillery, Keith – like his Viking ancestors before him – is most at home on the water. A builder of boats and an expert oarsman, he’s the driving force behind the Orkney Rowing Club, masterminding their charity race in 2016 and circumnavigating the 100 mile coastline around Orkney’s mainland in 24 hours.
DESIGNER, ARTIST & ENTREPRENEUR
JIM LYNGVILD
A designer and artist of international renown, Jim considers himself the last Viking in Denmark. His 36th great grandfather was Ragnvald Eysteinsson, the first Earl of the Orkney Islands and Jim can trace his own bloodline all the way back to the 8th century. Such is his passion and pride in his Viking heritage that he built, and now lives in his own spectacular Viking Castle in the Danish village of Faaborg. Jim is the creative genius behind the packaging design for our special edition, Valkyrie, part of the Viking Legends Series.
DISTILLERY MANAGER, MUSICIAN AND WHISKY PIONEER
MARIE STANTON
Marie is a true Viking Chieftain, with a brave and pioneering spirit, a sense of adventure and a dedicated work ethic. She relishes taking Highland Park to new places and helping our tribe to grow. And Marie applies a typically Viking determination and love of creativity to life outside the distillery too. Not only does she play four instruments (fiddle, flute, viola and organ!) but here on Orkney, where fierce winds mean no trees survive, she’s actually managed to coax a palm tree to life in her sheltered back garden!
WAREHOUSEMAN AND MASTER CRAFTSMAN
ROBBIE DREVER
A talented craftsman with superb carpentry skills, Robbie joined the warehouse team in 2003, bringing his excellent understanding of wood to the care of our valuable casks. In 2005, with the same attention to detail and respect for raw materials that he brings to work, Robbie began building Orkney Chairs, inspired by their honest and timeless design. It’s fair to say he’s now perfected his craft. Each chair takes up to 100 hours and Robbie has completed around 30, most of which he auctions for charity, raising between £800 and £1,000 apiece.
PHOTOGRAPHER AND VISUAL STORYTELLER
SØREN SOLKÆR
Internationally renowned for his striking portraits of musicians (think Oasis, Björk, Arcade Fire and REM) Danish-born Søren cites “using locations to create a stage where people can play and express themselves” as a critical aspect of his image making. In 2016, he joined us on Orkney, photographing our distillery team at work and capturing the whisky making traditions we’ve followed for over 220 years. With his signature use of dramatic lighting, he recorded the harsh environment and stark beauty of the Orcadian landscape too, providing a perfect visual documentation of what makes Highland Park stand apart – Location, People and Whisky.
WAREHOUSEMAN AND KIRKWALL BA’ CHAMPION
RONNIE PATERSON
In a tradition predating known records, the Kirkwall Ba’ Game is played twice a year (Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) between the Uppies and the Doonies. Playing for the Uppies, Ronnie is one of very few Orcadians to have won the final Ba’ as man and boy - in 2007 and back in 1985, with his twin brother Jack. A true team player, Ronnie brings the same enthusiastic commitment and sense of team spirit to our small band of workers at the distillery as he does when he joins half of Kirkwall’s men in a bid to win the Ba’ Game.
GO EXPLORE!
Our Viking ancestors were famed for their love of exploration. Why not set off on your own voyage of discovery and navigate your way around our range of award-winning whiskies...
