Fortunately, the quality in this bottle was worth paying the £55 for. Instead we must go on our findings in terms of smell and taste. T houghts: As always with no age statement whiskies, there’s no way of knowing exactly what your money is buying. Water brings forth more smoke and spice before a dry, woody finish. Water brings out more of the peat smoke and a blast of sea breeze. Smell: Recognisably Highland Park with heather honey, vanilla, malt and cereal notes. Matured in refill casks, it was bottled at 47% abv, without colouring and retails at around £55. Valfather is described as the peatiest release from Highland Park though I was unable to find the specifics of why that was so. This treasure trove of myth and legend has long been mined for the marketing purposes of Highland Park. Orkney was home to a Viking settlement at least as early as 780AD and their influence can still be seen in the landscape and culture of the islands today. You may well wonder what any of that has to do with a Scotch whisky distillery and that would be understandable, but don’t strain too much. These 7th century standing stones show Odin depicted as a great eagle beside the Valknut, a symbol theorised by some to represent the great God’s ability to inspire courage in men and foster fear in his enemies. To create the packaging for the Valfather single malt, Highland Park employed the services of Danish designer Jim Lyngvild, who based his work on ancient picture stones from Stora Hammars in Gotland, Sweden. Prior to every human conflict, Odin was said to choose the victor, before sending the Valkyries to carry the fallen back to Valhalla. Odin made his home in the magnificent hall of Valhalla in Asgard, where he would feast on the souls of heroes who died in battle. It is the third and final entry in the Viking Legend series and is named after Odin, the Allfather, chief of the Gods. Highland Park’s Valfather, it will come as no surprise to learn, takes its inspiration from Norse mythology. Instead, I wanted to use whisky as a jumping off point to tell stories, and so I often enjoy delving into the folklore that inspired a bottle’s name. Despite the name of this website however, I never really set out to focus purely on reviewing drams. ![]() Especially when age statements disappeared and were replaced by a host of Gaelic words and the names of various Viking Gods. What I think irritates people, is an absence of useful, practical information about the spirit they’re buying. This isn’t really a complaint you understand, I’ve always enjoyed history and folklore and Scotland seems to have more than its fair share of interesting tales to be told, so I don’t see too much of a problem with connecting whisky to some of those stories. They’re certainly not the only brand to draw on local legend for their marketing, but it’s hard to think of anyone that’s gone for it with quite the same vigour. Highland Park are well known (and often derided) for their fondness of Viking and Norse culture.
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