Culture

Speyside is home to so many distilleries in such a small area, its no wonder that some gems fall under the radar, especially being neighbours with big hitters like The Macallan and Glenfiddich.

Speyside is a whisky 'sub-region' of the Scottish Highlands, named as such due to the large number of Scotch whisky distilleries in a comparatively small area. The style of whisky produced has altered significantly over time, and thus there are a wide range of whiskies displaying different characters to enjoy. Always sweet, rich and flavourful: we certainly believe that there's a dram for everyone in Speyside!

Autumn is often a favourite time for drinking whisky, with crisp cold mornings and dark nights that haven't yet become anything but cosy. Aromas of fallen leaves, bramble bushes, dried fig, mushrooms and damp oak follow us outdoors and bonfire night brings to mind smoky air, toffee apples, roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate. And we mustn't forget the spices - cinnamon, ginger, sage, nutmeg present in every classic autumn dish.

Make your festive season a voyage of dram discovery, with some of the best and most exclusive liquid in the world behind each door of these premium whisky advent calendars. We've picked out our favourite grown-up advent calendars for you to enjoy this Christmas, because why do the kids get all the fun?

From rum to gin to vodka, you are bound to find a calendar that will light up your festive season. We've put together a list of our favourite alcoholic advent calendars under £100 to help you on your way.

From notes of marmalade to chocolate to sweet berries, whisky can taste succulently sweet. Pedro Ximenez casks imbue a sherried dark fruit sweetness, American oak imparts vanilla cream, and the malted barley gives tastes of brown sugar and toffee from the very beginning. We've picked the most notably sweet whiskies from our single malt Scotch selection, for the whisky drinker with a penchant for dessert.

Presenting the best way to drink our favourite blended whisky.

Although we will always treasure the rich liquid inside above all else, there are some whisky bottles that we can't deny look very impressive on our shelves.

The Whisky Shop team reviews one of the most hyped gin of the last few years!

Defined by a line following the old county boundaries running from the Clyde estuary to the River Tay, the Lowlands region is deemed anything South of this, to the Scottish Border. A region of few distilleries, this area has always been known for its unrivalled lightness and soft nature, and it is for this reason that the distilleries here have been fondly named 'The Lowland Ladies." Not so many years ago, there were just two operational malt distilleries in the Lowlands but that number now stands at 14, with several more in the pipeline. Let's have a look at some of the best.