Lowlands

The distillers based in the Lowlands have always had a slightly different mindset from their siblings up north. Initially distilleries all over Scotland were setup to serve their local parish with whisky, so those located in the tiny villages in the Highlands had a small catchment area for their spirit. Distilleries in the Lowlands, which stretches south from Stirling, incorporating Edinburgh and Glasgow, down to the Scottish border, have always had a larger populace to satisfy. So, their production capacity and output has always been higher than those up north – but not just for local consumption. During the eighteenth century, many Lowland distilleries – the Haigs and Steins, for example – were exporting their new make spirit to London, where it was rectified and consumed as gin. Export licences were hard to obtain and carried with them a high tax levy according to their capacity, so the only way to survive was to churn out whisky as fast as possible, leaving little time for the steps that give whisky proper character. It tasted burnt, harsh and even by the standards of the time, pretty awful.

Post-1823, when restrictions were removed on distillation, a new wave of production started. With the invention of the continuous still in 1827, then Aeneas Coffey’s patent still in 1834, Lowland distilleries were able to churn out significant volumes of higher quality whisky – this time mainly from grain, given its cheaper price relative to barley. The Lowlands remains the home to what Whisky writer Dave Broom calls the “reality of Scotch Whisky” – blends, which still far out perform single malt whisky in sales, production of volume and brand recognition. But there are many distilleries producing high quality single malt, with many more opened up over the last decade.

Typically, the style of whiskies produced in the Lowlands is described as “light.” There is a habit is for triple distillation, which gives the spirit a smoother, dare I say more commercial style. But there is also everything in between, as you will find cask finishes, and the occasional whiff of peat smoke.

Grain distilleries are the real powerhouses here, producing the bulk of liquid used in many blends. In fact, it is Scotland’s biggest volume-whisky style, with seven main distilleries producing a combined 300 million litres per year. It is often thought that grain is a relatively neutral style of spirit, but it is just as flavoursome as whiskies made with malted barley, and varies just as much depending on the type of grain and still used. While it is still most commonly found as a component in blends, more often you are finding single distillery bottlings. Notable distilleries are Strathclyde (Glasgow, wheat), Cameronbridge (Leven, wheat), North British (Edinburgh, corn), and Girvan (Ayr, wheat).

Notable single malt distilleries are: Auchentoshan located in Clydebank, from whom triple-distillation is key to producing light, malty and dry spirits; Glenkinchie, east of Edinburgh, whose whisky is light, floral and fragrant; Daftmill, a new farm distillery based in the Kingdom of Fife, who use their own barley (what’s left over from feeding the cows) to produce a delicate, sweet spirit.