In a story that blends serendipity with craftsmanship, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers has released the Old Perth 21-Year-Old, a whisky born from a moment of chance and matured into legend. The new limited-edition bottling brings together spirit from two icons of Scottish whisky-making, Macallan and Highland Park, in a vatting that can never be replicated.
Its story began in 2015, when casks from the Speyside and Orkney distilleries were unexpectedly combined. The Highland Park component, distilled in 2004, was already a decade old, while the Macallan portion carried greater age and depth. The union was then laid to rest in hand-selected Oloroso Sherry Butts, where it matured for another ten years. The youngest whisky in the final composition now stands at 21 years old.
Earlier incarnations of this vatting appeared under Old Perth’s 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old labels, quietly earning cult status among collectors. With the release of the 21-Year-Old, this accidental creation reaches full maturity, rich, resonant, and impossible to repeat. Bottled at 43.6% ABV, it delivers waves of sherried fruit, warming spice, and polished oak, underpinned by a delicate thread of Highland Park’s island smoke.
“This release is as much about serendipity as it is about skill,” says Graeme Mackeddie, Production Director at Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers. “An operational mishap has produced a whisky that will never exist again, a true one-off, shaped by time and sherry wood.”
Available now through select specialist retailers in the UK and Europe, the Old Perth 21-Year-Old is priced at £178 RRP.
