Highland Park teams up with David Coulthard to launch special edition Saltire Whiskies
David Coulthard has Partnered with Highland Park Distillery
Scottish Formula 1 star, David Coulthard has partnered with Highland Park Distillery in the Orkneys to create two special edition whiskies, including a limited, hand-signed, bespoke single cask expression, in support of charities in Scotland.
The single cask bottling, Highland Park SALTIRE EDITION 1 and special edition whisky, SALTIRE EDITION 2 are both 13 year old whisky’s inspired by Coulthard’s 13 Grand Prix victories.
A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of both whiskies will go towards supporting charities in Dumfries, giving back to the region that helped David during the early years of his motor racing career.
Highland Park Saltire Thirteen Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky commemorates David Coulthard’s 13 Grand Prix Victories in Formula 1 Motor Racing.
Highland Park, the Orkney Single Malt with Viking Soul:
Whisky has been distilled at Highland Park in Kirkwall, Orkney, which is Scotland’s northernmost distillery since 1798. Founder Magnus Eunson, was a direct descendant of Vikings who settled in Orkney over 1,000 years ago. A butcher and church officer by day and a bootlegger and smuggler by night, he set up an illegal whisky-making operation at a little bothy (a stone hut) at High Park, overlooking Kirkwall.
It is still the site of the distillery today and although they say Highland Park was founded in 1798, that’s actually the year the authorities finally caught up with Magnus. Contrary to what the name suggests, Highland Park is an Island rather than Highland whisky. The Highland of “Highland Park” refers to the local name for the elevated site of the distillery rather than the actual Highland region across the water in mainland Scotland.
Few trees survive the gale-force winds on Orkney. This makes the island peat bogs woodless and rich in heather. This quite floral peat creates the trademark Highland Park flavour profile of aromatic smoky peat and sweet heather honey as the peat which is used for the element of their malting in-house is locally sourced.
I have long considered Highland Park to be one of the most approachable, refreshing and flavoursome of Sctoch whiskies; ideal for both whiskey beginners and aficionados to enjoy. While there is a definite and long standing Highland Park house style, the distillery release many new expressions each year with different age statements and finishes. These variations on the house style theme are often aimed at the travel-retail (airport) market and are in my experience, always innovative and refreshing. Highland Park is always one of my “Desert Island” Whiskies when airport shopping as I have never been disappointed by any new release or expression that I have bought on spec.
David Coulthard:
David Coulthard is a Scottish Formula 1 champion turned TV presenter, commentator and journalist. In 1989, David dominated Britain’s junior Formula Ford categories and became the first ever recipient of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for young drivers. In 1991 he won the prestigious Macau F3 Grand Prix for the British Formula 3 Championship.
He joined the Williams Formula 1 team as a test driver in 1993 and became a full-time F1 driver in 1995. That year he won the Portuguese Grand Prix and finished third in the F1 World Championship.
Moving to McLaren, David took his new team’s first win in three seasons at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. In all, he scored 12 of his 13 grand prix wins and 51 of his 62 podium finishes with McLaren.
In 2005 David moved to the newly formed Red Bull Racing team. By the time he retired from Formula 1 in 2008 he had notched up 535 points, making him the highest scoring British driver of all time. David stayed on as a consultant to Red Bull and also acts as an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz.
David’s Formula 1 career also inspired the design of the packaging of this new Highland Park expression with the white cross “saltire” logo from his helmet, based upon the national flag of Scotland featured on the bottle label alongside his signature.
After extensive tastings during a trip to Orkney, David selected classic Highland Park whiskies, sherry seasoned and full-bodied for his SALTIRE editions. David Coulthard, said:
“My local community in Dumfries and Galloway helped give me so many great opportunities. I’m proud to be able to support them and share some of my success by providing them with some of the proceeds from the sales of these new whiskies.
I’ve enjoyed participating in the whisky creation process and I’m proud that Highland Park is helping me bring the project to life. The whiskies are inspired by my Formula 1 career, I had 13 Grand Prix wins and this feels like the 14th.”
Based in Kirkwall, Orkney, Highland Park Distillery has been supporting the community on their island home for a number of years through charity partnerships and collaborations including the RNLI Stromness Lifeboat Anniversary Bottling and Orkneyinga Legacy Centre whisky.
Jason Craig, Global Brand Director, Highland Park, said:
“As a proud Scotsman and winner of 13 Grand Prix races, David demonstrates all the characteristics of our view of a modern day Viking Soul. His desire to support his local community is very much in keeping with our ethos at Highland Park. We’ve enjoyed collaborating on this project and look forward to seeing what David’s and our fans think of our collaboration.”
Only 734 bottles of SALTIRE EDITION 1 is available to purchase from the Highland Park website: www.highlandparkwhisky.com
Highland Park SALTIRE EDITION 1
RSP: £139
ABV: 43%
Official Tasting Notes
AROMA: Light smoke, spicy, vanilla and nougat
TASTE: Sweet, vanilla, lemon and ginger
AFTERTASTE: Sweet citrus and spicy
Highland Park SALTIRE EDITION 2
RSP: £55
ABV: 43%
Official Tasting Notes
Autumnal gold colour | Caramelised Mango
Root ginger | Rich Vanilla | Warm cinnamon
Sun-ripened lemon peel | Aromatic heathery peat
Stuart McNamara (@WhiskeyBlogger) is an international Whiskey Blogger who edits several International Whisk(e)y and Whiskey Tourism sites including IrishWhiskey.com and WhiskeyBlogger.com. He is Chair of the Irish Craft And Artisan Distilleries Association (ICADA) and is an elected member of the National Council of ISME, the Irish SME Association. He is also the creator and editor of International Irish Whiskey Day which is celebrated on 3/3 or 3rd March each year and had a global social media reach in 2021 of over 20 Million. He is a Director of Portmagee Whiskey and has also acted as both a brand and product development consultant to several other Irish Whiskey and other spirits producers.
