WHERE MALT WHISKY IS MADE

There are discernabledifferences between whiskies made in one region and those made in another. Traditionally there were four distilling regions: Lowland, Highland, Islay and Campbeltown. Sometimes the latter two were lumped together, and some early writers refer simply to 'Eastern' and 'Western' malts!

SPEYSIDE

The important region of 'Speyside' is a modern sub-division of Highland. Prior to World War II many of the distilleries in this area adopted the appellation 'Glenlivet' (which is a small glen on Speyside) by tagging it onto the distillery name. The whiskies of Glenlivet had established a reputation by the 18th century even though they were made outside the law! Today over half of Scotland's malt whisky distilleries are on Speyside, and as a result the region itself has been carved up by commentators, either according to the rivers running through it or by its principle districts. The latter course has been adapted and the whiskies made in or around Elgin, the Upper Spey, Dufftown and Glenrothes, will be considered as well as Glenlivet itself.

HIGHLAND

In recent times, 'Highland' has been further broken down by broad geographical district: North, East, West and Central.

It is impossible to be categoric about the flavour characteristics associated with each region - especially when the wood the whisky has been matured in makes such a huge contribution. Nevertheless, there are certain salient features which will be identified in this journey around the whisky regions of Scotland.