From the island wilds to the rolling Lowlands, incredible whisky is made right across Scotland. Taste your way around the country with these amazing single malts.
Scotland might be small when it comes to landmass, but it punches well above its weight in the flavour stakes. Whisky, its most famous export, is made right across the country. There are over 150 distilleries scattered over the map, from the undulating Lowlands in the south to the windswept, rugged Highlands further north, and even the remote, outlying islands.
But this concentration isn’t even. Over centuries, distilling communities have popped up forming whisky epicentres. These resulted in Scotch regions becoming recognised – not just because of the density of distilleries, but due to some characteristic similarities, too.
There are five regions enshrined in law: Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay. Of these, Highland and Lowland are the largest and are separated by the imaginary Highland Line. This stretches from the Firth of Clyde in the west, to the Firth of Tay in the east. To help situate us, Edinburgh and Glasgow both sit south of the line in the Lowlands where traditionally lighter whisky styles were made. Perth and Dundee are to the north in the Highlands, where richer, nuttier and waxier whiskies were typically found. Island whiskies are legally part of the Highlands – but more on this shortly.
Speyside sits in the northeast, between Aberdeen and Inverness. Technically, it is also part of the Highland region, which is why some distilleries, like The Macallan, choose to carry that descriptor on their labels, rather than ‘Speyside’. Speyside became known for its fruitier offerings.
Campbeltown sits at the very end of the Kintyre peninsula and is the smallest Scotch whisky region with just three distilleries. Campbeltown producers tended to be complex and oily, sometimes smoky, but with a distinct farmyard ‘funk’. Don’t think of this as a negative – Campbeltown whiskies are highly sought-after.
Then there are the Scottish islands. From the Hebrides in the west to Shetland and Orkney off the northeast coast, there is so much diversity here in terms of culture and language – and whisky. Islay is the only island to have legal recognition as a region, and over time it became known for smoky, peaty, industrial styles. As of 2025, there are nine producing distilleries on Islay and other five in the works, making it by far the most prolific island when it comes to production.
But we don’t think this is entirely representative of the shape of the Scotch industry today. So we’ve added in a bonus sixth region to celebrate the contribution all island distilleries make to Scotch. ‘Islands’ might not be recognised in law, but whether its Skye, Raasay, Mull, Harris, Orkney, Shetland or any other, we think these intrepid makers deserve their own category.
One final note before we get onto the whiskies. The characteristics of each style mentioned above were all done so in the past tense. As Scotch production has developed and diversified, the aroma and flavour profiles of the whiskies produced has varied enormously. There are excellent unpeated whiskies produced on Islay, and wonderful smoky expressions made in Speyside. Some Lowlanders are bold and rich, while some Highland bottlings are light and gentle. Take all regional flavour associations with a pinch of salt. And don’t rule out a whole region based on these outdated notions – there’s an array of flavour to the found in every corner of Scotland.
