Best Whiskies From Each Scotch Region for Beginners

Key Points:

Scotch whisky regions may be less important these days in the industry, but some whiskies remain the foundation stones of their local styles. More and more distilleries are now bottling experimental releases, ensuring we whisky drinkers have plenty of options to explore.

However, if you’re new to this wacky world of whisky adventures, looking at these regions can be a very helpful starting point. They give you an idea of the basics and ‘house styles’. There are six regions of scotch whisky: Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, Islay, Islands and Campbeltown. Some of these are regions within regions, but let’s focus on those basic six for now. Below you’ll find a list of bottles that perfectly represent these areas to help kick-start your whisky adventure.

Lowlands

The Lowlands are typically designated as the home of the lightest style of scotch you can drink, and these recommended bottles are perfect examples. First up is Auchentoshan, a triple distilled (which is a little unusual) Scottish single malt based just outside Glasgow. With Irish origins, it produces superbly light, clean, easy-drinking whisky. Their American Oak release is an affordable approach to all things single malt. But if you fancy a richer style, their Three Wood release is drenched in sweet sherry cask influences.

The other recommendation is a personal favorite – Kingsbarns. This Fife-based distillery to the north-east of Edinburgh produces some beautiful citrus-driven, creamy styles of single malt. The Doocot, influenced by ex-bourbon and STR (shaved, toasted, re-charred) barrels, is a perfect pour for all times of the year.

Highlands

This is a big area – in fact, the biggest geographical area of Scotland when it comes to whisky. It stretches from just above Glasgow and Edinburgh all the way to the very tip of northern Scotland. So we’ve got a lot to cover. Two great recommendations for typical Highland whiskies are liquids from Glenmorangie and Loch Lomond.

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Glenmorangie has one of the best core range lineups for single malt whiskies across the globe. If you want just bourbon cask influence, then you can opt for their 12 Year Old. If sherry or port are your ports of call, then their Lasanta and Quinta Ruban releases are excellent for richer delights.

Loch Lomond has a wealth of whisky behind its warehouse doors that can do whatever you want it to do. However, the main release I’d tell you to focus on would be their standard, red-boxed 12 Year Old release. This isn’t my personal favorite bottle of theirs, but it encapsulates a Highland style more than most others, and it’s quite diverse in its taste. You’ve got ginger notes, very gentle smokiness, and a little rich drop of tropical fruit. It just does everything you want a whisky to do for not a lot of money.

Speyside

Speyside is part of the Highlands, an area that runs above and below the river Spey in the northeastern corner of Scotland, below Inverness. It’s home to some of the most famous Scottish whisky distilleries in the world – the likes of The Macallan, Glenfiddich, and The Glenlivet. Speyside whiskies are known for their easy-drinking style and the heavy influence of sherry.

The two recommendations we have for you are of that classic style but are miles apart in many other ways. The first is The GlenAllachie, a distillery owned by Billy Walker that’s making wonderful single malts that appeal to all fans of a sweeter tooth. Its 12 Year Old release is an incredible collection of casks that will hit those big chocolate, raisin, and Christmas notes that you’d ideally want from sherry influence. It’s bottled at 46%, giving you a richer, longer finish to the whisky.

The other is The Macallan. Now, there are plenty of other Speyside whiskies to mention that are classic examples of the region, such as Glenfarclas. But what The Macallan does is make very easy-drinking and approachable single malts, albeit at a more premium price point. There’s no doubt that they make good whisky – it’s just whether or not you’d be willing to pay the difference for it. The brand is very famous for reasons other than its marketing, but you’ll have to go out and try one at a bar or tasting event to see if you think it’s worth the extra cash out of your pocket.

Islay

Now things start to get divided. You’ll either love or hate ‘typical’ Islay whiskies upon the first smell and sip. It took me a while to come around to them, but once you’re in, there’s no going back. Two recommendations for different styles of whisky from this wonderful west coast island are Laphroaig (pronounced “La-froyg”) and Bunnahabhain (pronounced “Bunna-have’n”).

Laphroaig is a heavily peated Islay whisky and for me the most perfect example of the style. The bottle I’d recommend is the Laphroaig 10 Year Old Sherry Oak Finish. It’s one of my favorite bottles of whisky in the world and does everything I’ve always wanted a Laphroaig to do. The regular 10 Year Old release is also fine, but the sherry finish and the higher ABV of my favorite bottle just gives you more. Loads of briney salt and smoke, rich sherry, lingering finish, waves of peat, nutty dryness, and some creamy sweetness. It’s an incredible bottle that is widely available around the world.

Bunnahabhain makes both unpeated and peated whisky. Peating is where distilleries use a dried-out hydrocarbon, peat, to smoke the barley. This flavor lasts from the milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, and aging process. It’s an incredible thing to study. However, Bunnahabhain offers a mainly unpeated lineup that has all of the best features of a Speyside whisky, just on an island. So you get that little bit of saltiness from the coast, and an overall higher alcohol percentage than most east coast whiskies, too. Check out Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old for one of the best approaches to West Coast Scottish whisky.

Islands

There are 93 inhabited islands around Scotland, and some of them make remarkable whiskies. Much like Highland styles of whisky, the styles can vary quite a lot, but here are some great ways to start.

Arran 10 Year Old – The Isle of Arran and their Lochranza distillery produce a wonderfully easy-drinking style of whisky that works well in so many different styles of cask. Their core range 10 Year Old is focused on ex-bourbon casks that give it this amazing cream, apple, and soft fruit flavor that just dominates in most categories in terms of flavor and price. I’m yet to meet anyone who wasn’t a fan of it for one reason or another.

Torabhaig – This new distillery on the Isle of Skye has been a leading light in the world of peated whisky. It’s young, straightforward, transparent, and doing all of the correct things when it comes to whisky, putting marketing aside and letting the liquid speak for itself.

Founded in 2016 and putting more details onto the bottle labels than any other distillery or blender currently in business, Torabhaig is the distillery we should all be giving our smoke-fuelled attention to.

Campbeltown

This is where it gets tricky. My first recommendation for the house style of Campbeltown is Springbank. It’s really well-made whisky that does everything, and I mean everything. However, despite the 10 Year Old release only being £50 a bottle, it is impossible to find unless you’ve got the bots doing all the searching for you. It’s good whisky, but you’ll be on the hunt for a while.

Summary:

Scotch whisky regions may be less important these days in the industry, but some whiskies remain the foundation stones of their local styles.

Source: Best Whiskies From Each Scotch Region for Beginners