Although there was a long tradition of making whisky in the Hebridean islands, few distilleries took out licenses: they didn’t need to for the islands were almost impossible to police.

All the island malts might be described a ‘maritime’ in character, except Isle of Arran, which is as sweet and fruity as a Speyside. Highland Park and Scapa and lightly smoky, Talisker and Ledaig (an expression made at Tobermory Distillery) distinctly so. Tobermory and Jura have no smoke.