Highland Park (Whitlaw) Distillery

Highland Park distillery was founded by Magnus Eunson, a butcher and church officer by day and illicit distiller and whisky smuggler by night. In 1798 he was caught illegally distilling whisky on the site. In 1826, nearly 30 years later, Highland Park received an official licence to distill whisky. The name of the distillery refers to the fact that the distillery was founded on an area called 'High Park' distinguished from a lower area nearby. Highland Park is the second most northern distillery in the world, located on the Orkney Islands off the northeastern coast of Scotland, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea. Highland Park uses hard water for their whisky and the water is taken from Cattie Maggie’s Springs. Highland Park uses local heather peat which gives the whisky a heathery smokiness. Additonally, the Highland Park Distillery is one of the six distilleries in Scotland that only use home-grown grain and one of only a handful to continue their own, on site maltings.