|
4. Kintyre peninsula (Campbeltown)
The Kintyre peninsula - that long green finger which points towards Ireland - is the most southerly point on the West Coast. It was a haven for illicit distillers in days gone by. Some go so far as to claim that the art of distilling arrived here with the first Gaels from Ireland, in the 6th century.
Campbeltown, the only township of any size in Kintyre, was certainly one of the first centres of commercial distilling, and Campbeltown whiskies themselves had a reputation to rival Speyside. Between 1880 and the 1920s, there were thirty-four working distilleries here, producing some 2 million gallons of spirit per annum. Campbeltown vied with Elgin as 'the whisky capital'. Today there are only two distilleries, Springbank and Glen Scotia.
5. Lowland
The region embraces the mainland of Scotland south of the Central Belt (a line drawn between the Forth and Loch Lomond). There was a time, in the 1850s, when every town of any size in the Lowlands had its distillery, to supply the English market as well as local demands. For the style of Lowland whisky is much lighter than Highland, with little or no peating, and this had much broader appeal. By the 1880s almost the entire production of the Lowland distilleries went for blending: today, it is possible (and more cost effective) to create Highland malts with a light character to suit the requirements of blenders. The principal distilleries are Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie.
|
