Whisky regions in Scotland

The Lowlands extend across the entire mainland south of a line between Greenock and Dundee. To the north of this line are the Highlands. As the name suggests, there are many hills and mountains in the Highlands, while the landscape in the Lowlands is much flatter. The Wash Act of 1784 originally defined the boundary between the Lowlands and the Highlands. In the past, Lowland single malts were usually triple-distilled, giving them a lighter character, such as Auchentoshan. Even today, they are still more closely related to Irish whiskey in terms of production and flavour. The malts are usually intense in flavour and soft in body. Traditionally, non-smoky malt is used for production. This is probably due to the fact that the Lowlands used to be home to the coal industry, which meant that the use of peat for heating was not common. The typical Lowland flavour is characterised by mild, elegant notes of grass, honeysuckle, cream, ginger, butterscotch, toast and cinnamon. The whiskies are usually light and are also well suited as an aperitif or for beginners.

With around 40 distilleries, the Highlands is by far the largest region in Scotland, both in terms of area and whisky production. The Highlands whisky region covers the entire mainland north of the Highland-Lowland line, and whiskies produced in the Highlands have a wide range of different flavours and aromas. From lighter to salty and maritime malts, the Highlands offer a treat for every taste. Typically, Highland malts are less smoky, but still spicy and heavy. The landscape is overgrown with heather, which is often reflected in the flavour of the whiskies produced there.
As the Highlands cover a very large area, they are also divided into smaller areas and Speyside , depending on the direction of the compass. The distilleries on the islands are also part of the Highlands. They are sometimes counted as a separate whisky region of the island whiskies."

The area around the River Spey in north-east Scotland, Speyside, comprises almost half of the total number of distilleries in Scotland. Due to its high density of distilleries and its high whisky output, Speyside has long been officially recognised as a whisky region in its own right. Speyside covers an area that is not even as large as the Saarland. This makes it all the more impressive that so many whisky distilleries produce whisky in such a small area. Speyside is named after the River Spey, which is also the source of water for many of the distilleries located there.

The'islands' are officially treated as a sub-category of the Highlands, but as the flavours of some of the island whiskies differ significantly from the whiskies from the mainland, we have dedicated a separate category to them. The 'islands' stretch along the entire west and north coast of Scotland - with Islay counting as a region in its own right. To be more precise, these are the islands of Arran, Jura, Mull, the Isle of Skye, the Isle of Harris and the Orkney Islands.

The capital of the Kintyre Peninsula in south-west Scotland gave the Campbeltown region its name. Campbeltown was once regarded as the 'whisky capital of the world' and was home to over 30 active distilleries in its heyday around 1825. Due to poor economic trends, the number of active distilleries in the town fell over the decades to just two: Glen Scotia and Springbank. In 2004, the owners of Springbank reopened Glengyle, following the old model. In the past, whisky distillers benefited from the favourable location on a peninsula. As they were out of sight of customs officials, illicit distilling flourished on Kintyre and Campbeltown was not only the capital of Kintyre but also of illegal whisky distillers. Distillery growth continued even after the legalisation of whisky production in Scotland. However, when Prohibition was introduced in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century, Campbeltown distilleries lost an important export market. Most of the distilleries had to close as a result.

Islay (pronounced Ei-La) is 'the' whisky island in the south-west of Scotland. Islay has around 3,000 inhabitants, most of whom work in or for the whisky industry. The jobs are spread across the distilleries, agriculture with barley production, peat cutters - because peat is fundamental to Islay whisky - and also the catering and tourism industry around the Islay distilleries. Islay offers very good conditions for whisky production, as it has areas for barley cultivation and many peat bogs.

In the past, coal had to be imported for heating and malting the barley and was therefore expensive. Peat burns very well and can therefore be used both for heating and for kilning the malt. The 'Ileach', the inhabitants of Islay, therefore saved themselves the expense of buying coal and simply used the peat on their doorstep.