Whisky country

Rob Allanson takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Scotland's single malt distilleries.

Whisky... it entwines itself like an amber thread through Scottish life, its history and landscape.

The mention of the name takes you to cosy fireside chairs where the conversation flows freely.

If you travel throughout Scotland you are never very far from a distillery, and no trip to Scotland would be complete without a tour and tasting of its national drink.

This journey is going to take you through the land of single malts, blends will be dealt with next issue.

To be a single malt means that the liquid has to have come from one distillery, and been matured in Scotland for at least three years in an oak cask. It must also be made from malted barley, yeast and water. Now once you get your head round that, it is constantly impressive how so many different flavours can arise from just those three ingredients.

Our voyage through this rugged land punctuated by distilleries will take us from the dramatic island life of Orkney to the pastoral delights of the South.

We start at Britain's most northerly distillery Highland Park, set against the dramatic backdrop of the remote Orkney Isles.

Although there are now two working distilleries on Orkney as the nearby Scapa has shaken off its mothballed status, a visitor centre for it is still under discussion at present so the only visiting option is Highland Park. This is the classic image of a distillery. It fires its own peat, has its own floor maltings (one of just a handful that still does) and it has the feel of a truly wonder...

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• By : Rob Allanson
• In : Drinks
• Issue : 46
• Page : 60
• Words : 1,832