Scotch Whisky: The Regions, the Great Distilleries & the Oldest of Them All

Scotch Whisky: The Regions, the Great Distilleries & the Oldest of Them All

The water of life

Whisky — from the Gaelic uisge beatha, the “water of life” — is woven through the story of Scotland as deeply as its castles and its clans. Today there are around 154 operating malt whisky distilleries spread from the Borders to the far north and out across the islands, each with its own character shaped by its water, its barley, its stills and its landscape. This page is our guide to the whole picture: the whisky regions and what makes each taste the way it does, the great distilleries worth knowing (and visiting), the ones we’ve been to ourselves, and the fascinating question of which is truly Scotland’s oldest.

Where they all are

Scotland’s distilleries cluster in a few famous heartlands — the tight knot of Speyside, the smoky south of Islay, the survivors of Campbeltown — and scatter singly across the Highlands and islands. Tap any pin for the distillery and its region.

The whisky regions

Scotch whisky has five protected regions in law — Highland, Speyside, Islay, Lowland and Campbeltown — and one much-loved unofficial one, the Islands, usually counted as part of the Highlands.

Speyside — the sweet heartland

Packed into the valley of the River Spey in Moray is the densest concentration of distilleries in the world — around fifty of them. Speyside malts are the classic after-dinner drams: elegant, sweet and fruity, often rich with sherried, honeyed and orchard-fruit notes, and usually with little or no peat. This is the home of the biggest names in Scotch.

The great names: Glenfiddich and its neighbour Balvenie at Dufftown, The Macallan, The Glenlivet, Aberlour, Glenfarclas, Cardhu, Glen Grant, Craigellachie, Strathisla, Speyburn, Benromach and quiet Glendullan.

Also working across Speyside — every one has its own page: Mortlach, Glenrothes, Glen Moray, BenRiach, Longmorn, Tamdhu, GlenAllachie, Tomintoul, Cragganmore, Knockando, Balmenach, Ballindalloch, Tamnavulin, Linkwood, Miltonduff, Glenlossie, Mannochmore, Glen Keith, Glen Spey, Glen Elgin, Strathmill, Dufftown, Kininvie, Aultmore, Glenburgie, Inchgower, Dailuaine, Benrinnes, Tormore, Braeval, Allt-a-Bhainne, Dalmunach, Auchroisk, Glentauchers, Glenglassaugh, The Cabrach.

Highland — the vast middle

By far the largest region by area, the Highlands run from the edge of the Lowlands to the north coast, and the whiskies are as varied as the scenery — heathery and floral in the east, robust and full-bodied in the north, sometimes lightly coastal. Some forty-odd distilleries call it home.

The great names: Glenmorangie, Dalmore, Oban, Ben Nevis, Old Pulteney at Wick, GlenDronach, Aberfeldy, Blair Athol, Dalwhinnie, Clynelish, Glen Garioch, Glenturret and Balblair.

And the rest of the Highlands — each with its own page: Tomatin, Glen Ord, Brora, Wolfburn, Royal Brackla, Teaninich, Macduff (The Deveron), anCnoc / Knockdhu, Deanston, Tullibardine, Edradour, Glengoyne, Loch Lomond, Fettercairn, Glencadam, Royal Lochnagar, Ardmore, Strathearn, Ardnamurchan, Nc’nean, Uile-bheist, 8 Doors, Dornoch, GlenWyvis, Toulvaddie, Ardross, Arbikie.

Islay — smoke and sea

The little Hebridean island of Islay (say “eye-la”) makes the most distinctive malts in Scotland: heavily peated, smoky, medicinal and maritime, tasting of bonfires, brine and seaweed. Nine or ten distilleries are strung around its wild coast, and for many drinkers Islay is the whole point of whisky.

The great names: Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Bunnahabhain, Kilchoman and Ardnahoe.

Also on Islay: Port Ellen, Laggan Bay.

Campbeltown — the survivor

Far down the Kintyre peninsula, Campbeltown was once a whisky capital with more than thirty distilleries; today just three keep the flame, making a briny, oily, faintly smoky style all their own. It is the smallest region, and a place of pilgrimage for enthusiasts.

The three: Springbank, Glen Scotia, and Glengyle (whose whisky is sold as Kilkerran).

Lowland — light and gentle

South of the Highland Line, in the rolling farmland around the central belt, the Lowlands make light, grassy, gentle and floral malts — historically triple-distilled for extra smoothness. Long overshadowed, the region is enjoying a real revival, with a dozen and more distilleries now working.

The names: Auchentoshan, Glenkinchie, Bladnoch, Kingsbarns and Daftmill in Fife, Ailsa Bay and the Clydeside.

And the newer Lowland wave — each with its own page: Rosebank, Lindores Abbey, Port of Leith, Holyrood, Annandale, Lochlea, The Borders, The Glasgow Distillery, Bonnington (Crabbie’s), Falkirk, Ardgowan, Eden Mill, InchDairnie, Ailsa Bay, Aberargie, Crafty, The Galloway Distillery, Jackton.

The Islands — coastal and characterful

Officially part of the Highlands, the whisky islands — Skye, Orkney, Mull, Jura, Arran, Lewis and Raasay — are treated as a region of their own by most drinkers, and with good reason: their malts are varied, often salty and coastal, and sometimes gently peated.

The great names: Talisker on Skye, Highland Park and Scapa on Orkney, Jura, Arran (Lochranza and Lagg), Tobermory on Mull, and the newcomers Raasay, Torabhaig and Abhainn Dearg.

And more of the islands — each with its own page: Isle of Harris, Abhainn Dearg, Isle of Tiree, North Uist, The Orkney Distillery.

Which is Scotland’s oldest?

It is one of whisky’s great arguments, and the honest answer is: it depends what you mean by “oldest.”

  • Glenturret in Perthshire markets itself as founded in 1763, which would make it the oldest — but that claim is hotly disputed. The 1763 document describes a distillery already lying “waste,” with no proven link to today’s site; the current distillery grew from the Hosh distillery, first in the Excise records around 1816, and only took the name Glenturret later.
  • Strathisla in Speyside (founded 1786) has the best-documented claim and, having never closed, the strongest title to Scotland’s oldest continuously operating distillery.
  • Bowmore on Islay is traditionally dated to 1779, making it one of the oldest of all, though its earliest paperwork is thin.

Behind them comes a roll-call of grand survivors from the late 1700s — Balblair, Oban (1794), Glen Garioch, Highland Park (1798) — and the great names born in the whisky boom that followed the 1823 Excise Act, when licensed distilling took off: The Glenlivet, The Macallan and Cardhu (all 1824), and Glenfarclas soon after. Whichever you crown, you are drinking from a tradition well over two centuries deep.

The ones we’ve visited

We’ve toured a fair few of these ourselves, and written them up first-hand with our own photographs:

  • Glenfiddich, Dufftown — the world’s best-selling single malt, and free to walk into.
  • Talisker, Carbost on Skye — the island’s oldest, on the shore of Loch Harport.
  • Springbank and Glen Scotia — two of Campbeltown’s surviving three.
  • Oban — one of Scotland’s oldest, right in the middle of the town.
  • Kingsbarns — a Lowland newcomer in the Fife farmland.

Explore the rest

Plan a whisky-touring trail

Whisky is best explored on the road. We’re building drive-it-yourself trails — with mileages, the distilleries to stop at, and where to eat and stay along the way:

Sources

  • Scotch Whisky Association (Facts & Figures; regional definitions under the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009). Founding dates and the “oldest” dispute drawn from the Edinburgh Whisky Academy, distillery records and whisky historians; individual distillery pages here are first-hand from our own visits.