Sep 2026In short · Highland Park (Islands), 21 years, Smoky & Fruity.
“A freshly painted tugboat chugged through a salty mist of lavender and heather honey, its tarry docking ropes afixed near a brimming engine lubricated with fruity olive…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
SMWS 4.404 is a single cask of Highland Park, in the Islands region, 21 years old, bottled at 59.4%, released in the Sep 2026 Outturn. Every Society bottle numbered 4.x is from Highland Park.
Specs, price and tasting-note extract from the SMWS. Full notes on smws.com.
Far north on Orkney, above Kirkwall and scoured by Atlantic wind, Highland Park has made whisky since 1798. It is among the last to still malt its own barley on the floor by hand and kiln it over island peat, heather-rich and aromatic, quite unlike the mainland's. The result is a beautifully poised malt where wood-smoke and honey hold hands. Edrington own it; the Norsemen, in spirit, still haunt it.