Highlands

The Highlands are Scotland’s largest whisky region — from the north coast to the edge of Speyside — and therefore the most varied. A Highland malt can be salty and smoky like Clynelish, rich and fruity like Dalmore, or dry and spicy like an inland still.

This was historically illicit-still country: remote glens, smugglers, and a rusticker spirit than the Lowlands. After the Excise Act of 1823, houses such as Glenmorangie, Oban and Highland Park grew into icons.

Seeing ‘Highland’ on a label is a starting point, not a flavour. Look to the distillery, the cask and the bottler. The region promises a landscape of styles, not a single one.