Whisky guides

A guide to the Islands | Scotch whisky regions

The Islands are not recognised as a Scotch whisky region. But we do make a distinction, which we'll explain in this handy guide to the Islands while taking you on a whistlestop tour!

Jump to section

Jura

Highland Park and Scapa

Talisker and Torabhaig

Build your own

Tobermory

Lochranza and Lagg Abhainn Dearg The Isle of Harris The Isle of Raasay

Author:

Adam O'Connell

Reading time: 7 minutes

The Highlands is one of the five recognised Scotch whisky regions, as the Scotch Whisky Association will tell you.

One of the things that make the Highlands such a huge geographical area of whisky production is that it includes a multitude of islands across Scotland. There are 900 islands off Scotland’s coastline. Only around 70 are inhabited and few have distilleries, but every one except Islay comes under the Highland designation. Even though there’s an awful long way between Talisker on Skye and Highland Park in Orkney, they are still both Highlanders according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

Some do list the Islands separately. Like us on our site, really because it’s just easier for people to wrap their heads around. There are some overarching characteristics of island whisky, a slight coastal salinity and a penchant for peat, for example, but really there is no perfect regional categorisation because each Scotch whisky distillery is unique in its production methods.

The islands and the distilleries on them in full are the following: