It feels never-ending: one whisky maker after another is rolling out a special release for Chinese New Year. Highland Park is next in line with a limited edition boasting a vibrant personality.
The Orkney distillery opted last year to refresh the packaging of its core range to a more neutral look. That’s now being temporarily swapped for limited editions that burst with color.
Whisky packaging with a special effect
The brand’s 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old whiskies now come in purple, orange, and red packaging, with the new animal of the Chinese zodiac taking center stage.
Highland Park’s packaging was created by design studio Butterfly Cannon and features a horse that comes to life when you open the box. Thanks to the moiré effect, the horse appears to gallop across the front. It’s not just a nod to Lunar New Year 2026, but also to Orkney and its ever-changing winds.
Linda Song, regional senior marketing manager at Edrington, says the studio has perfectly captured the brand’s style with the box. She’s more than pleased with the limited editions.
What whisky is inside these limited editions?
The whisky itself hasn’t been tweaked for these releases. You’re getting the regular Highland Park 12, 15, or 18 Year Old you can usually buy. The limited aspect is all about the packaging, which is temporarily more celebratory.
The bottles will be available for a limited time in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, but reportedly won’t be coming to Europe or the United States. Pricing has not been disclosed.
Read also
FAQ
- Where is Highland Park located?
Highland Park is based in Kirkwall on Scotland’s Orkney Islands and ranks among the country’s northernmost distilleries.
- What is Highland Park known for?
The distillery is renowned for its distinctive balance of gentle peat smoke, honeyed sweetness, and spicy notes, thanks in part to Orkney peat and sherry casks.
- What are Highland Park’s most popular bottlings?
The best-known releases are the 12, 15, and 18 Year Old expressions, which are widely available and frequent award winners in their categories.
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LATEST COMMENTS
- There is no distillery equipment there and also no licences to produce or sell alcohol.TRC19-12-2025
- Hi Yvonne, Thank you for your response and for sharing the video. Unfortunately, the evidence you referred to consists only of two people talking about the whisky, without any explanation or identification. We have not spoken to the individuals in the video ourselves, nor can we verify who they are. We describe it as a Chinese whisky because it is released by a Chinese distillery. As you mentioned, the distillery has chosen to label the product as “pure malt” instead of “Chinese whisky.” Based on that, we do not believe they are doing anything illegal.M0nkey16-11-2025
- So - you have the proof......where's your write up?Yvonne16-11-2025
- You are absolutely right. Luckily that doesn't matter for the taste of the whisky. Have you tried it yet?M0nkey05-11-2025
- Guess what? Finland is not part of Scandinavia.Gray105-11-2025
- Throw in the towel? You mean restructure to compete and win in a challenging industry environment.WestwardFounder21-10-2025
- There is nothing legally to prevent the English whisky GI from coming into force, it complies with all the relevant laws and the single malt definition follows the precedent of Welsh whisky and US whiskyChefBear15-10-2025
- Three emails sent (two with videos, linked to a Google Drive Share). 1. The original video. 2. The video with subtitles as it was shared on YouTube 3. Screen grab of the YouTube channel where the video was blocked due to Pernod Ricard lobbying. The story was covered on Drinks Intel at the time - link here - https://drinks-intel.com/subscriber-news/pernod-ricards-the-chuan-pure-malt-whisky-not-sourced-solely-from-china-global-drinks-intel-exclusive/Yvonne10-10-2025
- Hi Yvonne, Thank you for your interesting comment. Could you share your copy with us, so we can adjust our item accordingly? Mail us at [email protected]. Thank you in advance.M0nkey09-10-2025
- Let's keep this factually correct. Pernod Ricard DID NOT release a Chinese whisky. Their first output from The Chuan (the name of the distillery in Sichuan, China) wasn't fit for bottling. What they actually bottled was imported Scotch whisky. This is why the product is called "PURE MALT" and not "Chinese Whisky" - because Pure Malt is not a regulated term - this is not a secret. This was exposed about a week after they released it. There were even videos about their own staff on site admitting it was made from imported whisky - which Pernod Ricard got the lawyers onto to get the video pulled. I've got a copy if you want it.Yvonne09-10-2025
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