The Islands covers the clutch of distilleries located off mainland Scotland and outside of Islay. This is another broad spectrum of distilleries, each with rather individual identities but a shared character that can broadly be categorised as coastal, fresh, full-bodied and rich with notes of cereal and fruits.

There are legends here too such as Talisker on Skye which is hugely peppery, peaty and elegantly fruity with notes of medicine and sea air. Highland Park on Orkney - often described as the great all-rounder - is heathery and gently phenolic with notes of honey, fruits, spice and peat smoke.

Tobermory on Mull produces the unpeated, cereal and citrus-driven eponymous distillate and the heavily peated variant Ledaig while the relative newcomer Arran makes a highly drinkable whisky which veers between light and fruity, coastal, farmy and peaty. There is much to find in the Island distilleries but all are full of character and produce some excellent whiskies.