The Mey Highland Games: Castle of Mey's Royal Tradition in Caithness
Every first Saturday in August, the John O'Groats Showground fills with pipers, heavy events, and, more often than not, a king. The Mey Highland Games have been running since 1970, and they remain one of the few Highland Games in Scotland where the caber toss and the reigning monarch's tent sit within sight of each other. This year, they fall on Saturday 1st August, and Wolfburn will be there, as we have been for a decade.
A castle the Queen Mother refused to walk past
The story starts with a ruin. Barrogill Castle was built in the 1560s by George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness, and by 1952 it had fallen into a state most people would have driven straight past. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother didn't. Newly widowed and visiting friends near Dunnet that summer, she caught sight of the castle from the road and decided, more or less on the spot, that she was having it. She bought it, restored it, renamed it the Castle of Mey, and kept it as her private home until 1996, when she gifted it, along with an endowment, to a trust that keeps it open to the public today. It sits on the Caithness coast, in clear view of Orkney, about six miles from John O'Groats.
Founded for a 70th birthday, still going at over fifty years old
The Queen Mother turned 70 in 1970, and the Mey Highland Games were founded that year to mark it. She was delighted enough by the result that she asked the organisers to make it an annual fixture, and it's stayed one ever since: heavy events, piping, Highland dancing, and a ladies' and adaptive programme that makes it one of the most inclusive Games in the country, held every year at the John O'Groats Showground.
When the Queen Mother died in 2002, her grandson, then Prince Charles and now King Charles III, took over as Chieftain. He still spends part of his summer at the Castle of Mey, and the Games have become part of that routine. In most years he can be found in the Royal tent on the day, and word from previous years is that a dram of Wolfburn tends to be in his glass.
A decade of turning up, a decade of maturing.
Wolfburn has produced a limited edition whisky for the Mey Games for nine years running. We're Scotland's most northerly distillery, based in Thurso, less than twenty miles down the coast from John O'Groats, so supporting the Games isn't a sponsorship decision made from a boardroom somewhere else. It's local.
This year's bottle, a 10-Year-Old Single Malt matured in second-fill Oloroso sherry casks at 46% vol, wears the Sinclair tartan, a nod to the family that has held the Earldom of Caithness since the 15th century and whose seat, Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, sits along the same coastline as the Castle of Mey. Their motto was "Commit thy work to God", which isn't a bad description of what it takes to leave a cask alone for ten years and trust it'll be worth the wait. It follows last year's release, which carried the King's Tartan in honour of His Majesty's own attendance. Different tartan, same idea: this whisky belongs to Caithness as much as the Games do.
On the nose it's soft sherry sweetness, figs and raisins, with a hint of vanilla and oak. On the palate, bold chocolate and dark fruit, caramel, vanilla, and a gentle hit of nutmeg and oak smoke. The finish is long and silky, with dried fruit and caramel lingering to the end.
Making a day of it
If you're thinking of visiting the Castle of Mey itself while you're up, worth knowing: it closes to visitors every year from 24th July to 11th August, as it happens, Games day. You won't get inside on the day, but the Games are held on the Castle's doorstep regardless, and the gardens reopen the following week if you're staying in the area. Wolfburn's own distillery is a short drive along the coast in Thurso, and if you'd rather see where the whisky in your glass actually gets made, our distillery tours run year-round.
Getting a bottle
The 2026 Mey Games release comes in two sizes: 70cl at £59.99 for the collection, and 35cl at £29.99 for anyone who'd rather travel light. We'll have bottles on hand at the Wolfburn stand throughout the day at the Games on Saturday 1st August. Whatever's left goes up on our website from Monday, first come, first served.
About Wolfburn
Wolfburn Distillery is Scotland's most northerly mainland distillery, based in Thurso, Caithness, on ground that produced whisky as far back as 1821. Every bottle is distilled, matured, and bottled on site, using water drawn from the Wolf Burn and seaside dunnage warehouses, with no chill filtration and no artificial colour. Independently owned, proudly northern, and built on the belief that fortune favours the brave.