Orkney and Thurso Trip Day One (Highland Park)

Itinerary

09:35 – 10:45 Flight (Loganair): Edinburgh – Kirkwall
11:00 – 11:05 Bus (Stagecoach 4: Kirkwall): Kirkwall Airport – Eastdale Close
11:05 – 11:10 Walk – Eastdale Close – Highland Park Distillery
12:00 – 13:20: Tour: Highland Park: Welcome Tour
14:26 – 15:00: Bus (Stagecoach X1:Stromness) – Kirkwalll Travel Centre – Stromness
15:10 – 16:00: Pint at Ferry Inn
16:45 – 18:15: Ferry (Northlink) Stromness – Scrabster
18:30 – 18:36 Bus (Stagecoach x99) Scrabster – Thurso
18:36 – 18:46 Walk: Premier Inn Thurso

I headed north for a three-day whisky tour of some of the most northerly distilleries in Scotland this week.  The first stop was the Orkney Islands, which are some of the most picturesque islands in the country. They have been inhabited for over 8,500 years and have ruins that predate the pyramids at Scara Brae.  The public transport options for getting to Orkney are limited, but there is an option of travelling to Aberdeen and taking the ferry to Kirkwall, or a quicker but more expensive option is to catch a Loganair flight from Edinburgh to Kirkwall, which takes only 50 minutes. I opted for the flight as it is a real time saver, and as I was heading back to Edinburgh from Thurso at the end of the trip, it saved me doing two 8+ hour train trips.

Getting to Highland Park

The flight from Edinburgh to Kirkwall as mentioned, took just over 50 minutes, which is less than the advertised time, but as my flight took off late, the arrival time was pretty much the same as advertised. From landing to exiting the terminal, it took 8 minutes, so I managed to exit the airport just in time to catch the 11 am Stagecoach bus to Kirkwall. The Bus stop is just outside the exit of the terminal on the left, and it cost £1.80 for my single ticket. I got off at Eastdale Close stop, but the interesting thing about Orkney is that most stops do not appear to have actual bus stops!  I think they operate an informal on-request system for getting the bus, so I think you can just flag down the bus, as there is often a lack of any bus stop signs at designated stops, so I was just relying on Google Maps to guide me!  The stop I got off at is in a residential area, but it was only a five-minute walk from the distillery. I just walked down the street towards the main road, and then took a left and which led me directly to the distillery.

At Highland Park

The entrance to Highland Park is pretty unassuming, just a steel sign in an arch shape between two buildings, which you will see on your left as you walk up the road. After you enter, the visitors’ centre is on the right. The facilities at Highland Park are fairly limited; there is a decent-sized shop where you can buy bottles of whisky and some Highland Park merchandise, but that is pretty much it.  I did not see any food options (aside from ice cream), and there is no real bar area, although you can buy a tasting flight if you wish and drink it in the curved seated area at the end of the shop. There are also some samples of whisky available for purchase, which start at around £9, which seemed a little steep, as you often get samples for free at other distilleries.

Tour

I booked onto the welcome tour, which is the Highland Park standard tour. It commences in a room at the back of the visitors centre with a short five-minute video which gives you some information on Highland Park and the whisky-making process. As you watch the video, you also get to enjoy your first dram of the tour, which was a 12-year-old Highland Park.  The video was fine, but you do have to drink and watch as you need to finish your dram before continuing onto the next part of the tour (some people on my tour seemed to have an issue with that!).

The next stop on the tour is the mill room, where you learn about the malting process. Highland Park is one of the few distilleries where they malt their barley onsite using traditional methods of manually turning the barley, and it is cool that you get to see some of the tools used during this process. That includes the Chariot Barrel, which is used to transport the barley over the malt floor, apparently, it needs to be filled 60 times to cover the whole floor! I was a bit unlucky that there wasn’t any barley malting on the day I visited, as it is quite nice to see the barley on the malt room floor (I have seen this previously at Bowmore in Islay). The next stop is the kiln, where you see and learn about the type of peat which is being burned to give Highland Park its unique smoky flavour.  The guide mentioned that the peat used at Highland Park is unique as they are the only distillery to use Heather peat, which gives the whisky a more floral flavour than other types of peat. Another part of the tour takes you to a large room with the mashtun and washback, which all looked brand new to me. This was perhaps due to the fact that they had a major refurb recently, so all the equipment smells fresh. During the refurbishment, they replaced the washbacks from wooden to stainless steel, which makes it look even newer and fresher. There are 12 washbacks in total and a huge mash tun, and yet only around a million litres of whisky per year are produced.

After seeing the waskbacks, the next stop was the mill (so not quite in chronological order for the whisky-making process), and then you exit that room and head to see the stills.  They have 4 stills on site, these are described as mid-range in size, which helps them develop good floral notes in the whisky.  After stills, you go into a room where there is an excellent graphic of the whisky-making process, but also of the differences between different still sizes and how that impacts the flavour of the whisky. The taller stills give the whisky a more floral profile, while a short still ensures a more oily and rich profile.  You also get to see the two main types of casks, used by Highland Park (oloroso sherry casks and ex-Bourbon casks). Then you get to visit one of the dunnage warehouses on site.

Tasting

The final part of the tour is the tasting, which takes place in the tasting room, which is in the building next to the visitors centre upstairs. On the welcome tour, I got to try the 15-year-old Highland Park and the 16-year-old Swallows Return.  The 15-year-old was probably my favourite from all the ones I tried (including the 12), it was similar in taste to the 16 but had a better and longer finish.  I found the 16-year-old was a bit too dry on the finish, but both were very smooth, fruity and enjoyable.  I did not get much peaty flavours coming through on the 15 or 16, although there was a hint of peat on the 12.

Orkney

Although there is a range of attractions on Orkney which I could have enjoyed if I had the time, was heading to Thurso, where I was staying for 2 nights, to visit further distilleries so after my tour, I had to catch the ferry from Stromness to Scrabster. This was a bit of a shame as it was a gorgeous (and warm) day when I was visiting, and heading to Scara Brae, the Italian Chapel or Ring of Brodar would have been great, but maybe next time (when I have to come back and visit Scapa Distillery!).

There is a bus that goes to Stromoness, and although it does have a pick up point outside the distillery,  I got the bus at Kirkwall travel centre, as I had a bit of time after my tour before my bus, so I wanted to explore a bit.  The bus arrived at the ferry terminal in just over 40 minutes, stopping right outside the ferry port. Although my bus was just a few minutes late, I arrived around 90 minutes before my ferry was due to depart.  I used some of the free time to enjoy a walk around Stronmness High Street, browsing some of the local shops. The high street is not fully pedestrianised, so you do have to watch out for cars driving up behind you! After visiting the shops, I decided to catch a quick pre-ferry pint at the aptly named Ferry Inn, which is directly opposite the ferry terminal.  It is a nautically themed bar with a really good selection of local ales on tap, and there are even a few benches outside for enjoying a drink when the weather is nice (the sun had disappeared when I got there, so I took shelter inside!).

I checked in for my ferry at the travel centre around 35 minutes before my ferry left, which was ample time as the check-in process only takes a few minutes. The ship was moderate in size, with two accessible levels. I have to say this ship was a distinct improvement on my last trip to Orkney, when I travelled on a far smaller boat in bad weather and ended up having to hold onto the sides of my seat to avoid falling over as the ship rocked up and down furiously! Luckily, the decent size of the ship and the relatively calm waters this time made for a more pleasant journey. I found a good, comfortable chair in the bar area and had a nice pint of Orkney Gold for the journey. The bar area also had an exit where you could get outside and enjoy the views (when it’s not rainy and misty!), and the same deck had the restaurant, which had a variety of food options.

Travel to Thurso

The ferry arrived on time at Scrabster, and the terminal is around a 50-minute walk from Thurso. I opted for the bus into town as the X99 leaves from just outside the terminal and only takes 5 minutes to get to Thurso. The bus was waiting just outside the terminal when the ferry arrived. However, I did almost miss it, as the bus stop is easy to walk past when you are leaving the terminal. You exit the ferry port through a tunnel, and there is a small bus stop sign on the left, which is easy to walk past. To get on the bus, you exit the tunnel at the bus stop sign and then walk around the far side of the bus to get on.

Overnight

I was staying in Thurso for a couple of nights, so I booked into the local Premier Inn, which is situated very centrally at the back of the Train Station. The bus from the ferry stopped just past the Bank of Scotland, which is close to the main high street, and from there it was only a ten-minute walk to my hotel. The hotel was fine, clean and comfortable, pretty much what you expect from a Premier Inn and after reading some reviews from other hotels in the area, I was pleased I stayed here. I arrived at the hotel quite late after arriving on the ferry, and as I have a Shareholder card, which gets you a discount on food at the Premier Inn restaurant, I was just going to catch dinner there.  However, I was told they did not have a free table until 9 pm, which was a bit strange as the restaurant was not even close to full when I was there, and when I returned an hour later, it was still not even close to full! I decided to just get a sausage supper from the local fish and chip shop, which was not spectacular but was fine for one night. Then afterwards I decided to try one of the local bars, and had a pint in the Commercial, which is located just off the High Street, and I can say that it is far nicer inside than outside.