Laila Gohar Turns Whisky Tasting Into a Visual Experience

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Highland Park’s latest whisky collaboration starts with an unusual design brief: What does a flavor look like?

For the second edition of its Between You and I series, the Orkney distillery partnered with New York-based artist and creative director Laila Gohar on a 17-year-old single malt and a visual identity shaped by the memories and imagined places it conjured for her.

A bottle of Highland Park 17 Year Old Scotch whisky stands beside its decorative yellow box on a red-and-white striped surface.

Photography courtesy of Highland Park

Highland Park Master Whisky Maker Marc Watson sampled more than 80 casks while developing the release, taking inspiration from Gohar’s Egyptian heritage. The resulting whisky spent its first 11 years in refill casks before moving into unseasoned American oak, selected to amplify notes of orange blossom, leather, and warming spice alongside the distillery’s characteristic peat smoke.

A silver teapot, two closed books, a box labeled “Highland Park 17,” a green candle in a seashell holder, and a striped tablecloth are arranged on a table.

Photography courtesy of Highland Park

But it’s Gohar’s response to those flavors that gives the collaboration its visual character. Leather brought to mind ancient artifacts in a Cairo museum; orange blossom suggested a sun-drenched Andalusian courtyard; and vanilla transported her to the slopes of a tropical volcano beneath a night sky. Those scenes became the basis for the packaging co-created with Gohar, pairing hand-drawn illustrations by Silja Goetz with layered references to the imagined worlds.

A bottle of Highland Park 17-Year-Old whisky, a glass with whisky, and a pair of yellow gloves are arranged on a yellow and white striped tablecloth.

Photography courtesy of Highland Park

“My work is all about reimagining objects, ingredients, flavors, creating something familiar but totally unexpected to spark curiosity and conversation,” Gohar says. “That’s why this collaboration felt so natural.”

The concept extends inside the box, where traditional tasting notes have been replaced by a booklet of vignettes written by Gohar, encouraging drinkers to approach the whisky through association and imagination rather than flavor descriptors alone.

A woman in a pink shirt stands behind a table set for a meal, decorated with striped table runners, candles, gloves, and orange juice cartons.

Photography courtesy of Highland Park

Between You and I by Laila Gohar for Highland Park is available globally for $160.

Editorial Transparency: This article was developed with the assistance of AI tools, which may have been used for research, outlining, editing, or copy refinement. Reporting, fact-checking, and editorial decisions were made by the Design Milk editorial team.