Home > Uniquely Unspoilt Magazine > Issue 13 > Whisky

~~ Whisky - by Kate Wright ~~

What does Scotland mean to you?  Ask any non native Scot that question and though hills, glens, tartan and bagpipes will inevitably feature, you can bet that by far the most common response will be our national drink - whisky that is, not Irn Bru.

The art of whisky distillation is thought to have come to Scotland from Ireland, with early Irish monks bringing their spiritual knowledge to Scotland in more ways than one!  The earliest written record of the production of whisky, or uisque beathe as it was know then, dates from the mid 15th century - though it was undoubtedly being made long before then.

High taxes meant that illicit distilling was rife throughout much of the 16th and 17th centuries, with legal distilling only really becoming profitable in the late 18th century when the taxation on spirits was revised.  What started as an illegal sideline for many a farmer is now a multi-billion pound industry with Scotch whisky being exported to every corner of the globe.

Whisky can be broadly divided into four different production regions - Highland, Lowland, Islay and Campbeltown and each area has many distilleries to visit.  Each has its own qualities and characteristics - from Scotland?s smallest distillery, Edradour near Pitlochry, to the likes of Glenfiddich in Dufftown.

If you?re really keen, you could do the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail which includes seven distilleries ? or make a pilgrimage to the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre near the castle in Edinburgh.

Possibly the most remarkable of the four production regions is Campbeltown, as it is the only region which is comprised of one sole town.

Situated at the end of the Kintyre peninsula, this town of a mere 5000 inhabitants once boasted more than 30 different distilleries within the town limits - and that was only the ones that had troubled themselves to get a license!

This earned Campbeltown the title of ?Whisky Capital of the world? for much of the 18th century.  The Campbeltown whiskies were in great demand from the Glasgow blenders and the town flourished - at one point it was the richest town per capita in the whole of Great Britain.

Sadly this prosperity did not last.  Increasing demand led to higher and higher quantities of spirit being produced at the expense of quality.  The reputation of Campbeltown?s whiskies suffered as a result to the extent that by 1926 only two distilleries remained, Springbank and Glen Scotia.

Take a wander round Campbeltown today and you will still see the vestiges of the old distilleries; old distillery buildings almost intact but their function changed to that of garage, business park and even creamery.

Look a little harder and in the centre of town, up a little lane you will find the Springbank Distillery.

Visiting is like stepping back in time, from the traditional floor maltings to the sounds and smells in the still house, and production carries on here as it would have been last century, completely oblivious to modern technology.

Springbank is the only distillery in Scotland to carry out the full production process on site, and one of the only still to be family run - the current chairman is the great great grandson of the original founder. The family have recently opened a new distillery in Campbeltown, the Glengyle, reasserting its importance as a centre of whisky distillation in Scotland.

Kate Wright
Springbank Whisky

The following holiday cottages are situated within easy reach of the locations mentioned above: