The Islands are perhaps the most variable, and controversial, of Scotch whisky regions.
Not technically an "official" region under the Scotch Whisky Association rules, who consider the Islands part of the Highland Region, most drinkers seem to agree that there's something distinct about these drams, that warrants recognition.
The region contains just a handful of Scotland's 900 off-shore islands, and includes the likes of Orkney (Scapa and Highland Park) in the north, Jura and Mull in the west and Skye (Talisker) in between. Tucked inside Campbeltown you'll find Arran, whilst Islay is a whisky-island deemed worthy of a region entirely to itself!
Each of the distilleries on these islands makes a subtly different style of whisky, but there are some commonalities: the seaside settings bringing salty maritime quality in many of the drams, whilst peat is also commonplace.
What's certain, though, is that some of the most rugged and forbidding places in the world have created some of the most astonishingly delicious whiskies around.