A 20-Year Journey with Highland Park

WhiskyCast

This episode of WhiskyCast features an in-and-depth interview with Highland Park Brand Ambassador Martin Markvardsen, reflecting on his 20-year

Key takeaways

• Martin Markvardsen celebrates 20 years with Highland Park, sharing stories of brand ambassadorship and his connection to Orkney.
• A potential US ban on Canadian whisky imports contains a loophole for bulk shipments, protecting companies like Diageo and Heaven Hill.

Main topics

• Highland Park Brand History
• US-Canada Whisky Tariffs

Notable quotes

I will forever be Highland Park. Credibility-wise, I would never do it. But also, my heart is Highland Park.

Conclusion

An essential update for whisky enthusiasts that balances personal bran

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:09) Welcome to WhiskeyCast, Cast Strength Conversation, featuring news and interviews from the world of whiskey. I'm Mark Gillespie, and this is episode number 1181 for September 27th, 2026. Coming up in a few minutes... Speaker 6 (0:26) The night before we had to leave, we had a dinner, and we decided to invite the captain and his crew. And we're sitting there having fun. People started talking about how much they bought at Highland Park in Stitteria and the shops in Orkney. And the first guy said, well, I have 15 bottles. And then the captain started listening because there were 68 people. And on average, they had about 16, 17 bottles. And he started calculating, you know, wait. So next morning when we had to enter the flight, we were on the flight. He said, I'm sorry to tell you, we can't fly back to Stockholm. because there's too much weight on the flight. Speaker 4 (1:08) That's Highland Park Senior Brand Ambassador Martin Mark-Bardsen. We'll find out how his pilot solved that dilemma on a flight from Kirkwall to Stockholm, later on WhiskeyCast in-depth. Martin is celebrating his 20th anniversary with Highland Park this fall, and he'll share some more tales of the road with us, too. That's just ahead, along with the week's tasting notes, the calendar of events, behind the label, and much more. It's all part of this week's WhiskeyCast, whiskey's longest-running and most-awarded podcast series. Speaker 4 (1:45) Let's get started with the week's news. It's brought to you by Dewars. U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on imports of Canadian whiskey is scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday. But as more details become available, we're learning that it may not be a complete ban. The ban is on bottled Canadian whiskey in bottles of one gallon or smaller, meaning bulk whiskey shipments will be exempt from the ban and the corresponding 50 % tariff. That means companies like Diageo and Heaven Hill, who bottle their Canadian whiskeys in the U.S. for sale in the American market, will still be able to import railroad cars full of whiskey tariff-free. It's not clear whether the ban will extend to individual consumers crossing the border from Canada into the U.S. That could have a major impact on duty-free sales at the border. In other news, Diageo CEO Sir Dave Lewis is shaking up his executive suite, and that means a departure for Chief Financial Officer Nick Giangiani. Lewis has recruited former Tesco executive Joanne Wilson away from London-based communications firm WPP to take the CFO's chair. Giangiani will apart next spring. He served as interim CEO before Lewis was appointed earlier this year. The world's most expensive bottle of whiskey is hitting the auction block once again. Sotheby's will auction one of the 14 fine and rare bottles of the Macallan 1926 on October 9th in the first ever auction at the Macallan Estate in Scotland. Only 40 bottles of the Macallan 26 were produced in 1986, with 12 featuring labels designed by Sir Peter Blake and 12 more designed by Italian artist Valerio Adami. One was painted by Irish artist Michael Dillon, and one was left unlabeled. One of the Adami bottles set the current record for the world's most expensive bottle of whiskey in 2023. It brought a high bid of $2.3 million at Sotheby's. Sotheby's also wrapped up a weekend of five auctions last week in New York City, with one of the highest prices ever paid for a Japanese single malt. A 1960 Kurozawa Cask 5627 brought a high bid of $625,000. It was the highest value lot of the five wine and spirits auctions at the Sotheby's Nightcap Festival. Sad news out of Scotland, where Glen Wyvess Distillery in Fife is going into administration after failing to secure enough funding to keep operating. The distillery is owned by community members and began distilling in 2018. It halted production last month after warning investors that funding was needed urgently to continue operations. Founder John McKenzie has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the Glen Wivis ownership community and told the spirits business he'll be working on a rescue plan to save the distillery with help from the administrators. McKenzie owns the land on which the distillery is located and resigned as managing director in 2019. Speaker 4 (4:49) Gordon and McPhail has released four single malts targeted at milestone celebrations. The Anniversary Releases Collection includes a 1966 Long Morn, a 1976 Glen Grant, a 1986 Milton Duff, and a 1996 Linkwood. The single cask releases are priced at 500 pounds for the Linkwood to 7,000 pounds for the 1966 Long Morn. Other new releases announced this week. Chivas Brothers has launched two new Aberlauer single malts, a 21 and a 25-year-old. Both will be released on an annual basis in limited amounts. They'll be available in Asia, Canada, the U.S., and global travel retail, along with the U.K. and France. No word on pricing. Compass Box is at it again, tweaking the nose of whiskey industry regulators. Its latest whiskey is 10 years old, and to emphasize that, the name is, this is a 10-year-old whiskey. It's been 10 years since Compass Box got in trouble with the regulators for sharing all of the details about one of its whiskeys on the label, in violation of the rule that only the age of the youngest whiskey can be displayed on a label. This whiskey blends a single malt from Kleinlich with peated and unpeated Arden American malts, and it's bottled at 50.5 % ABV. There's no word on pricing. Deutsch Family Wines and Spirits has launched new bottled and bond versions of its Redemption bourbon and Bibbentucker Tennessee bourbon. Master blender Alan Kennedy told me about them at a launch event Wednesday night in New Speaker 2 (6:30) York City. Redemption, we've got our bottle and bond single barrel. So it's Speaker 4 (6:34) a Speaker 2 (6:34) minimum of six years old. I think a lot of them right now are seven to eight because we wanted to add a minimum to it. It's our high-rise 36%. So it's just a true test, one barrel, that perfect point. That's the great thing about bottle and bond is it's kind of a hundred-proof bottle and bond is that litmus test. of perfect quality flavor. This is something we get to go through and really show those aspects of the rye and all the attitude and soul that we have in Redemption. The Bibb & Tucker bottle and bond is a different one. It's something that means a lot to me. I'm a 12th generation Tennessean, so heralding Tennessee whiskey means a lot. This is not your normal Tennessee mash bill. Normally it's that 80 % corn mix. This is actually a 29 % high rye. that we started distilling eight years ago with our partners at Tennessee Distilling Group that goes through the Lincoln County process. So very unique to the world of Tennessee whiskey. It's something absolutely beautiful. Of all the things we do, I love all my children equally. Just some of them I like to play with a little bit more. It's definitely what's in my glass lately. Speaker 2 (7:40) And where's the redemption bottle distilled? Distilled at MGP currently. We've been working with them for years. We are bottling and working with Castle & Key as our bottlers there. And then we have been distilling this mash bill at Tennessee Distilling. We're going to start distilling at Castle & Key as well. So over the years, it might switch distilleries, but we'll always have the distillery number on there. The Bibb & Tucker Speaker 4 (8:04) Bottled & Bond Tennessee Bourbon will carry your recommended retail price of $64.99 a bottle, while the Redemption Bottled & Bond will be priced at $49.99. I'll have my tasting notes for them in a few minutes. There's also a new Redemption 18-year-old bourbon coming this fall. It'll be priced at $400 a bottle. The Borders Distillery in Scotland has released its first single malt whiskey. It's an eight-year-old finished in Madeira wine casks. Only 10,000 bottles will be available at a recommended retail price of 46 pounds a bottle. Douglas Lang & Company has unveiled the 2026 winter editions of its Scallywag and Big Pete blended malts. This year's Scallywag Speyside blended malt is finished in cognac casks, while the Big Pete Isla blended malt is a 10-year-old whiskey finished in French red wine casks for 16 months. Scallywag is priced at £60 a bottle, while the Big Pete winter edition is priced at £65. Speaker 4 (9:06) We mentioned the return of Laphroaig's 15-year-old single malt a few weeks ago, but it's now available in the U.S. market. To mark the occasion, Laphroaig master blender Sarah Dowling held a special tasting with members of Women Who Whiskey, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The whiskey is available nationwide with a recommended retail price of $89 a bottle. Widow Jane has unveiled the second edition of its Black Opal bourbon. The 20-year-old bourbon is finished for 13 months in Japanese Mizunara oak and bottled at 49.5 % ABV. It carries a recommended retail price of $500 a bottle. The distillery is planning a 14th anniversary party in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood on October 15th. Willett Distillery is releasing a new Potstill Reserve Cask Strength bourbon. It's a full-proof version of the flagship Potstill Reserve and will be released each year timed to the spring and fall equinoxes. The whiskey will be available nationwide with a recommended retail price of $67 a bottle. From Wales now, and get ready for a tongue twister, Halon Vyrepul Distillery on Anglesey Island is about to release its first single malt whiskey. Just 50 bottles of Whiskey Moan will be available for pre-order starting in December, a year ahead of the finished whiskey's release of just 200 bottles. The original whiskey is finished in rum casks that held the distiller's Anglesey rum, and it'll only be available through the distillery, which is now selling its new make through its website. Also from Wales, Pendering is teaming up with football legend Ian Rush to launch Nine, named for Rush's number nine football shirt. It's a nine-year-old whiskey matured in Tawnyport wine casks and will be priced at £55 a bottle in the UK. The Dalmore is adding a new expression to its core range for the first time since 2022. The Dalmore, aged 17 years, is finished in three different types of sherry casks from the Gonzales Baez Bodega, Amoroso, Apostolis, and Metuzalem. It's priced at $250 a bottle in the U.S. Pernod Ricard is updating the packaging for Jefferson's Bourbon and is introducing an eight-year age statement for the flagship Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon. It's also increasing the bottling strength to 48 % ABV for Jefferson's Reserve, while boosting the strength of Jefferson's very small batch to 44 % ABV. The new bottles will be rolling out across the U.S. this fall. Speaker 4 (11:49) Australia's Sullivan's Cove distillery is finally catching its production up to demand for its award-winning single malts. The distillery increased production more than 10 years ago after winning the World Whiskies Award for Best Single Malt Whiskey, and some of those casks are now reaching maturity. The whiskies will have a prominent place at Whiskey Live Paris this weekend and the upcoming Whiskey Live Singapore, and will be available in select export markets. I reviewed Potter Jane's Big Fat Liar bourbon several weeks ago, but finally had the chance to get the full story from co-founder Denny Potter at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. So you guys lied to us. You said you were never going to release a bourbon until it was your own stuff and it was ready, right? Speaker 3 (12:35) That is correct. We are liars. But, you know, I think... When we were saying that in the beginning, I mean, that was kind of the intent, right? Like we weren't ready to source. We were completely focused on designing the distillery, getting it built, which, you know, turned out to be a three-year process. And then you get everything up and running, and then all of a sudden you kind of take a step back. Everything's running well. And then it's like, you know what? Like what's next? Can we really wait four to five years? It would be fun to have some liquid to play with. And then Jane always had this idea on vatting. From her time, you know, when she lived in Europe, She always wanted to do a batting project. So the more we