Like the 200 series on American whiskey, the 300s will cover Scotch whisky in more detail. An introduction to the regions is a good place to start.
As a quick refresher, to be labeled 'Scotch whisky' a spirit needs to be produced entirely in Scotland including distillation and maturation. The regions are then an additional piece of information for single malts (as opposed to blends), which come from a single distillery within Scotland. A whisky can only be labeled, by law, as from the region where it was made (i.e. distilled, as maturation sometimes takes place elsewhere in Scotland).
For seemingly forever a whisky's region defined its distinctive characteristics, where the water source, natural air and other aspects of the terrain would reflect through the spirit. While still often true, this has gotten murkier with the current worldwide whisky craze. Distilleries now increasingly go outside established comfort zones with experimentation. Regardless, it's a good idea to know about the past to understand the present and future.
At the moment there are five different Scotch whisky producing regions. These are what appear on labels, for example 'Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky.' The five are:
- Lowlands
- Highlands
- Speyside
- Islay
- Campbeltown
The Lowlands surround the two biggest cities in Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh), and as expected have lower elevation than the highlands. There are a relatively small number of distilleries in the lowlands, with Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie the most well known.
The Highlands include most of the land north of the lowlands where the elevation rises, using a boundary set back in the 1820s. For now the island distilleries (excepting Islay) are grouped into the Highland region. This is a diverse group with distilleries on various islands (like Talisker), some along the mainland coast (like Glenmorangie or Oban) and others well inland (like Aberfeldy or Edradour).
Speyside is the area roughly around the river Spey (in the highlands) in northeast Scotland. Originally not a separate region, it was made one in 2014 due to the sheer number of distilleries (>50 out of the 127 operating today) producing roughly 50% of the spirit in the country. Speyside notably includes Macallan, Glenfiddich, and Glenlivet. Curiously, some Speyside distilleries still label their whisky as 'Highland Single Malt' (such as Aberlour).
Islay is an island off the west coast of Scotland, one of the Inner Hebrides. Known for fiery peat smoke, there are nine operating distilleries on the island of only 240 square miles (at longest 25 miles north to south, 15 miles west to east) and a population a little over 3000. Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Lagavulin are the most famous.
Campbeltown is a town at the end of a peninsula off the west coast of Scotland, between the islands of Islay and Arran. At its Victorian peak 30+ distilleries operated there, though today there are only three: Springbank, Glengyle (which makes Kilkerran) and Glen Scotia.
Lists explaining and maps showing these regions regularly specify an Islands region as well, which very well could be separated from the Highlands, but as of now no bottles can legally display 'Island Single Malt.' Those that would qualify (like Talisker, Arran and Highland Park) currently only say 'Single Malt Scotch Whisky,' not specifying a region. I'm guessing at some point a sixth region will officially be added by the Scotch Whisky Association.
These regions have associations with certain flavors that are worth noting:
Lowland - light and refined, smooth, grassy
Highland - no distinct style, instead a wide range with the diverse group of locations
Speyside - usually lighter and fruity, frequently sherry matured
Islay - most known for heavy peat smoke, unique even without
Campbeltown - complex and lightly peated, the mainland and Islay combined
It needs to be remembered, as I mentioned earlier, that not everything from a particular region will meet the typical profile. The trends continue to move away from regional styles with the rising popularity of whisky in general and single malts specifically. Peat in particular is gaining traction throughout the mainland which long spurned it. For our benefit many expressions call out the intentions of the whisky, regarding maturation and other impactful details. A vast variety of flavors is the beauty of Scotch. There's just so much to try! I'd bet on region labeling continuing, even if regional styles somehow entirely disappeared, in order to point out where each whisky was made.
To wrap up, I'll group by region the Scotch reviews done so far to see what that reveals.
Lowland:
none
Highland:
Speyside:
Islay:
(Bruichladdich) Octomore 7.1, Laphroaig 10, Laphroaig An Cuan Mor
Campbeltown:
Well, my first takeaway is I've done a pretty good job so far but need to do a Lowland. Second, I'll have to review quite a few more whiskies to improve the representation of Scotch as a whole. And that sounds like fun.
Comments