North Star 13 Year Old Secret Highland

This 13 year old unnamed Highland (cough cough – Highland Park) release fits squarely into the ethos that is North Star Spirits – cask strength, unfiltered, and chosen because the whisky itself had something to say – The North Star 13 Year Old Secret Highland!

The North Star 13 Year Old Secret Highland was matured in a first-fill bourbon cask for no less than 13 years! Bottled as it came out of the cask at a cask strength of 58.2 glorious percent abv! Extremely low in phenols (smoke) this whisky presents essentially as unpeated – even though there is a percentage of Highland Parks own (peated) floor malted barley included in the mash bill.

North Star Spirits is a Glasgow-based independent bottler known for bold, character driven single casks and was founded in 2016 by Iain Croucher, who built the company on a simple but uncompromising philosophy: bottle only the casks that stand out, regardless of whether the distillery name is available for use. The team — small, hands on, and famously personality driven — selects, re racks, and bottles everything themselves, with no automation and no shortcuts. Their reputation has grown quickly because they consistently unearth “hidden gems” from across Scotland: single casks from both famous and lesser known distilleries, often finished in unusual fortified wine casks or left to shine in their natural state.

Highland Park is a uniquely Orkney single malt distillery, founded in 1798, whose style blends gentle heather rich peat smoke with honeyed sweetness, sherry seasoned oak, and a clean, windswept coastal freshness.

Its character comes from two defining elements: Orkney peat — cut from Hobbister Moor and rich in heather rather than medicinal phenols — and traditional floor maltings, where a portion of the barley is still hand turned and peat smoked on site. This gives the whisky its signature aromatic floral, fragrant, notes woven subtly through layers of honey, citrus, dried fruit, and warming spice.

Technically this is peated (as all Highland Park uses a small percentage of highland-peated barley in the mash)– but for all practical purposes this presents more as a classic sweet fruity spirit aged in American oak with all the floral notes, dried fruits, vanillas and citrus pings that entails.

Nose: Sweet and creamy in spades on the nose. Salted caramel, sweet floral heather, toffee apples and sweet candied peel.

Palate: Buckets of sultanas, stewed apples and fruit mince with a creamy mouthfeel, drinking remarkably easily for 58%

Finish: Sweet and long finish – with just a hint of smoke right at the end.

There is a touch of smoke here – but it much more discernible as an umami counterpoint to the sweetness in the finish than real ‘peat smoke’. Delicious, round and thoroughly chewable whisky!

This 13-year-old whisky matured in a first-fill barrel and presents itself at natural cask strength with 58.2% ABV – powerful, complex, and with the typical depth that makes Highland malts so special.

An intense, classically matured Highland single malt that, thanks to its first-fill barrel finish, offers a harmonious balance of sweetness, spice, and dry depth – creamy, spicy, complex, and full of character.

Aroma: A burst of heather smoke and sea spray gives way to banoffee pie, and sun-kissed orchard fruit.
Taste: Caramelised apple and smoky honey glaze over layers of spice and malt sweetness.
Finish: Long, warming cinnamon spice, oak with a silky vanilla finish.