Review #752 - Cadenhead's Highland Park 'An Orkney' 6 Year

Independent bottlers use their freedom to bottle whisky at a huge variety of ages, from quite young to very old. Here's one of the youngest examples we've seen: a 6 year old Highland Park, bottled by Campbeltown-based Cadenhead's. As Highland Park sometimes stipulates that the name of their distillery isn't used on some independent bottlings, this small batch bottling just suggests that this whisky was distillated at 'An Orkney' distillery.

The cask choice for this young Highland Park is all ex-bourbon casks; paired with that 6 year age statement, we should have a great chance to see the true character of the distillate from this island distillery. The bottling strength is 46% ABV, like most Cadenhead's bottles, and this was first released in 2023.

Cadenhead's Highland Park 'An Orkney' 6 Year

Scotland/Highland - Single Malt

Price: USD 79 (2026)

Age Statement: 6 Years

Strength: 46% ABV

Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon casks

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled 2016, bottled June 2023

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 3 months; bottles at 50%, 90%, and 80% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Minerals, malty, salty, even oily-smelling. It's a bit spirity, and we get a soft hint of fizzy peat; then it's oranges, caramel, and a bit of heather. Lighter scents like lemon, vanilla, and grapefruit pop up too. At the end, we get biscuity semi-sweet cookies.

Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; we start with light fruits like golden apple, guava, a bit of lemon. Sweetness from barley sugar and malt... more light fruits of orange and banana, too. There is a hint of peat smoke, but we actually get more dominant charcoal notes. Hay and soft floral notes are accents.

Finish: Vanilla and apple, fizzy, pleasant, with a whiff of peat smoke. It's oily and just a bit spirity, and we get sweet notes of brown sugar, cake icing, and biscuits. Lemon lingers in the aftertaste; it's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: This is still a little bit spirity at 6 years old, but we were actually surprised with how nicely rounded it is. That youth does show in the lack of complexity, but we found a nice mixture of light fruits, sweet baking notes, and a hint of smoke. A pleasant sipper, but nothing special; it does show that Highland Park distillate well.

Value is about average here. The price might be a little high for a 6 year old single malt, but the quality is good, so it could be worth it if this is your preferred flavor profile.

Our Rating: 6.7 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.22

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.