1 Best Sight in Orkney and Shetland Islands, Scotland

Highland Park Distillery

Fodor's choice

Having come this far, you'll have earned a dram of the local single malt at one of Scotland's northernmost distilleries. It was founded around the turn of the 19th century by Magnus Eunson, a church officer who dabbled in illicit stilling. The Viking Soul tour is highly recommended and takes you through the essential aspects of this near-sacred process, from the ingredients to the hand-turning of the malt, the peating in the peat kilns, the mashing, and finally the maturation in oak casks. This smoky, peaty malt can be purchased all over Orkney, as well as from the distillery's austere shop.