Highland Park launches 50-year-old whisky worth £13.5k

Highland Park has released 274 bottles of a 50-year-old single malt worth £13.5k, making it the oldest release by the distillery for more than a decade.

Max McFarlane, Highland Park whisky maker, said: “We hand bottled this Highland Park 50 Year Old from just two sherry seasoned Spanish hogshead casks laid down in 1964, over half a century ago.

“Justifiably nervous of the whisky’s great rarity, we decided that the two casks simply couldn’t be allowed to travel together."

Each cask was transported separately at different dates in late 2009 and then married for a further eight years at the brand’s warehouse in Glasgow.

“When we brought these two 1964 hogsheads together, we also introduced a small amount of our original 50YO first released in 2010, a 1960 Vintage,” added McFarlane.

The whisky is 42.5% abv and is said to be “sweet at first with notes of ripe black cherries and Muscovado sugar giving way to dried autumn fruits and warm, toasted wood”.