It's often said that the flavour of Scotch whisky embraces and reflects the Scottish landscape. The flavour and aroma can transport you there with every sip—to the salty air and crashing waves, or the smell of grass and Scots pine. But how much does geography truly influence whisky character? The answer lies in understanding the complex relationship between Scotland's geology, climate, and the spirit produced there.
The Romance of Regional Styles
Whisky regions are often one of the first things explored when embarking upon a journey through Scotch. When seeking diversity, sampling whiskies from all corners of Scotland is never a bad idea. It's certain to produce a varied collection and, depending on the malts selected, can illustrate the styles associated with each region: the coastal character of the Islands, the light grassy notes of the Lowlands, or the sherried spice flavours of Speyside that reflect strong historical links with the Spanish sherry industry.
These associations between styles and regions have built up over time, but the extent to which geographical influences remain relevant today is debatable. Understanding this evolution requires looking back at how traditional production methods were shaped by local resources.
Historical Geography and Flavour
Before the era of mass production and easy transportation, distilleries had to use what was available to them locally. With peat covering much of Islay and North-West Scotland, this was widely used in kilns to dry the malted barley. Depending on the method, this would often impart a distinctive smoky, peaty flavour to the final spirit.
In contrast, peat wasn't readily available in the Lowlands, and the malted barley was more commonly air-dried or dried using coal-fired kilns. This led to whiskies from this part of Scotland becoming known for their lighter, more delicate character—a reputation that persists today.
These traditional flavours can still be found. Auchentoshan produces a soft, triple-distilled and unpeated spirit that is in every way a classic Lowland malt, while powerful peaty flavours are the first things that come to mind when tasting classic Islay malts such as Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and Bowmore.
However, as most distilleries now buy peated or unpeated malt from large-scale commercial maltsters, these regional characteristics may be more a charming celebration of history and tradition than differences set in stone. As whisky writer Ian Buxton notes in his appreciation of Aeneas Macdonald's classic book 'Whisky', although "geography exerts an influence, secret and subtle upon whisky," the value of geographical classifications may be less significant now than in pre-war times.
The Angel's Share and Local Air
Yet geography continues to exert influence in subtle ways. During maturation in Scotland, approximately 2% of whisky is lost every year as the so-called Angel's Share. As it evaporates through the cask into the air, that 2% of space is filled with fresh air from outside. As the cask breathes this air in, oxidation occurs, leading to complex reactions within the spirit.
The character of the surrounding air plays a crucial role. If a warehouse sits on a windswept beach, the salty sea air may subtly influence the final flavour. This process encourages, for instance, the production of esters with fruity and floral overtones—compounds that contribute significantly to whisky's complexity.
Climate and Maturation
Climate plays a dramatic role in whisky maturation. In hotter countries like India, casks can lose up to 10% of whisky per year during maturation—five times Scotland's rate. Other processes that impact flavour, such as extractive maturation (gaining flavour from the cask wood), also accelerate, meaning the whisky doesn't need to mature as long in these climates.
However, subtractive maturation—which gradually removes unwanted sulphur compounds responsible for unpleasant metallic notes in new-make spirit—cannot be rushed. Makers Mark Distillery in Kentucky cleverly manages this by keeping their whiskey on higher, hotter warehouse floors during the first few years to extract cask flavours quickly, then moving barrels to lower, cooler floors to ensure sulphur compounds are properly absorbed by the wood.
Water: The Geological Connection
One element that continues to significantly impact a whisky's character is the local water source. Water may contribute to the feel, body, and even flavour of the resulting spirit, and its character is determined entirely by the geology it passes through.
In Islay and parts of the Highlands, water runs through peat bogs that are naturally high in acidity. It's been suggested that this brings out notes of iodine and pepper spice in the final spirit. In contrast, the water used at Talisker and Tobermory distilleries is sourced from springs in volcanic lava flows, with a mineral content completely different to waters rising from granite hills used in distilleries like Cragganmore.
Areas of the Highlands produce harder-bodied water—more complex and mineral-rich due to filtration through limestone and red sandstone. Each geological formation imparts its own unique mineral signature, creating subtle variations in the spirits produced.
Exploring Regional Character Through Tasting
One benefit of blind tasting is the ability to explore these subjects solely through the flavour of the spirit. Look out for the soft, light character of Lowland malts, the richness of Highland spirits, or the robust, iodine-laced, peaty complexity of Island malts.
When the malts are revealed following your tasting, consider: Did you detect these regional differences? Were they distinctive, or did other variables—maturation regime, peat levels, still design, and countless production choices—impact the flavour so much that subtle regional differences were impossible to identify? The answer often reveals as much about modern whisky production as it does about traditional regional styles.
Shop our Regions of Scotland tasting set
Further Reading
- Whisky Aeneas Macdonald, with an Appreciation by Ian Buxton
- The Science and Commerce of Whisky Ian Buxton & Paul Hughes
- Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing Inge Russell & Graham Stewart