In partnership with Jim Lyngvild, Denmark. The Legend: The Valkyries go weaving with drawn swords, Hild and Hjorthrimul, Sanngrid and Svipul. Spears will shatter, shields will splinter, swords will gnaw like wolves through armour. For Viking warriors, death was not an end. But a glorious beginning, and it began with the Valkyries. Plunging down from dark heavens with Blood-Curdling shrieks, the Valkyries descend like avenging angels on horserback to comb the battlefields for the bravest of the fallen warriors - those marked out by their Valknut tattoo as heros fit to enter Valhalla, the hall of the great Norse god, Odin. In the earliest Viking sagas, the Valkyries are portrayed as Malevolent female spirits, maliciously weaving the destiny of mortal warriors on their looms with bloody intestines for thread and severed heads for weights. But these terrifying women, with their wings of black swan feathers and chainmail armour, were not warriors but servants of Odin. They were possessed with the power to choose who would die on the battlefield and who would ascend to Odin's ghostly army to prepare for Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world. Highland Park Valkyrie celebrates the rich Nordic ancestry on Orkney, our island home. Once part of a vast Viking Kingdom, the mythology of our ancient past was woven into our character and culture for hundreds of years, long before Highland Park was founded in 1798. From those Viking warriors who settled in our lands, we have inherited integrity, bravery and independence. Today, we demonstrate those values in our distillery, rather than on the battlefield. Valkyrie is the first in a series of three special Viking legend releases. The Orkney single malt with Viking soul. The Designer: Jim Lyngvild is a Viking. He lives in a castle which he designed himself in the Danish village of Faaborg. His 36th great grandfather was Ragnvald Eysteinsson, the first Earl of the Orkney Islands and Jim can trace his own bloodline all the way back to the 8th century. He is also a writer and a designer of international renown, highly regarded for his vast and vivid imagination. Who better to design Highland Park Valkyrie for us. The inspiration for Jim's magnificent illustrations comes from two important sources - the ancient Hammar Stone of Gotland and an iconic Viking pendant from around 300-700 AD, discovered in Uppland in Sweden. For Highland Park, he represents the Valkyries as shield-maidens of Odin, offering their god mead from a curved horn. The larger illustration features a Winged Valkyrie with coiled hair and a necklace that pays homage to the goddess Freya's magical Brisingamen tore. Jim credits his success in life to his Viking roots. We have always been forced to think fast and creatively. We needed beat to survive so we are tough and bard-working. It takes more than a hurricane to knock us down. - Spoken like a true Viking. The Whisky: Like a pale sunset on an Orkney winter's day, the natural amber hue of Highland Park Valkyrie belies the intense warmth of its fiery depths. A dramatic opening with the sharp tang of sweet green apples and ripening lemons gives way to bewitching oriental spices that tease the senses with a promise of a long, slow seduction. Creamy vanilla - voluptuous and silky smooth - wraps itself around sweet preserved ginger and luscious dark chocolate, soothing and enticing in equal measure with tantalising hints of salty black liquorice and the crackle of a smouldering bonfire. Exquisitely balanced, the long and lingering finish delivers waves of warm aromatic smoke and richly ripened fruit. www.highlandparkwhisky.com/innercircle. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Join our inner circle and discover more about Highland Park. www.highlandparkwhisky.com/innercircle. 45.9% Alc./vol. Distilled and bottled in Scotland. Product of Scotland.