The ‘Islands’ are not an official SWA region like Islay, but a catch-all for Scottish island distilleries beyond Islay: Skye, Jura, Mull, Arran, Orkney and Lewis. What they share is the sea. What they do with it differs by island.
Talisker (Skye) is pepper, smoke and surf. Highland Park (Orkney) folds heather honey into light peat. Arran is fruity and modern, Jura a little oilier, Tobermory/Ledaig plays both peated and unpeated. It’s the most adventurous ‘region’ to drink through.
Island whisky is character that won’t sit still — maritime, sometimes smoky, always with wind in the glass.
