Highland
The vast and the varied.
Whisky shaped by the landscape.
From the peated drams of the far north to the elegant spirits of Perthshire, the Highlands resist easy description — and reward those who explore them slowly.
The Highland region is defined by everything in the Scottish mainland that falls outside Speyside, Campbeltown, and the Lowlands. That covers an enormous amount of ground - from the orchards and gentle hills of Perthshire in the south to the rocky coast of Caithness in the far north, from the distilleries of the Black Isle looking out over the Cromarty Firth to the lone stills tucked into Highland glens that most visitors will never find.
This geography produces whisky without a single defining character. What they do share is a sense of place - an earthiness, an authority, a quality that seems connected to the scale of the landscape around them.
Glenmorangie
On the Dornoch Firth at Tain, Glenmorangie uses the tallest pot stills in Scotland - eighteen feet high - which produce an unusually light and floral new make spirit. The distillery is one of the most visitor-friendly in the Highlands and has invested heavily in its experience offering. Glenmorangie's wood management programme - the distillery owns its own Ozark Mountain white oak forests in Missouri — is among the most sophisticated in the industry.
Bottles worth knowing - Glenmorangie 18 year old. The distillery at full stretch. Eighteen years in American oak produces something genuinely elegant: orange zest, honey, a floral top note. One of the most consistently well-made whiskies in Scotland.
Pair with: Tain Golf Club
Glenmorangie Distillery is close enough to the course for it to be considered your 19th hole, and both share a similar spirit: natural, understated, shaped by the land. A round at Tain followed by a visit to Glenmorangie is one of the most coherent days available in the Highlands.
Dalmore
At Alness, six miles from Glenmorangie on the same firth, Dalmore produces whisky of an entirely different character: rich, chocolatey, coffee-dark, built for long maturation in a range of exotic wood types. The distillery is known for its old and very old expressions - the Dalmore 40, 50, and 62 Year Old releases have set auction records - but the accessible range is more approachable than its reputation suggests.
Bottles worth knowing - Dalmore 15 year old. The introductory expression that best represents what the distillery does: rich, dark-fruited, with the distinctive Dalmore combination of American white oak and González Byass sherry butts. A good benchmark before exploring the older and more expensive releases.
Balblair
In Edderton in Easter Ross, twelve miles from Royal Dornoch. One of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, producing whisky since 1790 on the same site. Balblair's character is Highland in the true sense — not showy, not trend-led, with a quality that reveals itself over time rather than announcing itself immediately. The distillery's proximity to Royal Dornoch makes it the natural pairing for any golf itinerary in the far north.
Bottles worth knowing - Balblair 15 year old. Released without age statement until 2019, when the distillery switched to an age-stated range. The 15 strikes the right balance between the distillery's characteristic honey and fruit notes and the complexity that comes from decade-and-a-half maturation.