This Scottish Region Is Renowned for Its Sea-Inspired Whisky — A Guide to Planning the Ideal Trip

It was drizzling in the ancient Norse settlement of Wick, perched on the wild northern coast of Scotland. Whitecaps crashed and churned on the sea; gulls danced in the blustery winds. Inside the expansive warehouses of Old Pulteney, a distillery with a 198-year legacy known for its maritime malt, I could sense the salty air infusing the wooden whisky casks, enhancing the sweet, briny flavor day by day.

During a tour of one of the four warehouses, my guide, Daniel Ross, and I marveled at the orderly rows of bourbon barrels, each marked with the year they were filled. Some date back to 2002, making them only slightly younger than Ross himself. At 25, he is already familiar with the fierce winds that batter these shores. “Up here, the salt will strip the paint off everything,” he remarked.

Ross pointed to the high open windows in the warehouse wall, explaining that the wind carries in seawater, which settles like fairy dust on the casks. “During maturation, the whisky seeps into the wood, where it interacts with the salt,” he noted. “It may not seem like much, but the casks stay here for 12 years.”

I had heard a similar tale the night before in the coastal town of Dornoch, where my journey through Scotland’s renowned Flow Country began in search of maritime whisky. There, I sat down with Michael Hanratty, the manager of the Carnegie Whisky Cellars, a tasting room and shop featuring an extensive selection of scotches. I was eager to discover how one of my favorite single malts could embody the flavor of the ocean it overlooks.

“Something has to fill the gap,” Hanratty noted. This gap refers to the “angel’s share”: the whisky that evaporates—approximately two percent each year. That something is the sea air. “As the whisky begins to breathe, it absorbs some of that salty essence,” he explained.

A saline essence also infused the Links House, a charming 15-room sandstone hotel in Dornoch perched by the crashing waves. It feels like a setting straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, but with superior cuisine and a friendly atmosphere among those who appreciate plaid. The cozy ambiance is enhanced by an open fire, large windows, and skylights, making the space feel airy and welcoming, even on a dreary day. Each room features a private butler’s pantry, well-stocked with soft drinks and Tunnock’s caramel wafers, a beloved Scottish delicacy.

Most visitors came to play a round at Royal Dornoch, one of Scotland's premier golf courses. The fairways lie between the hotel and a glistening beach where sand plovers gather on the rocks and seals playfully bob in the surf. Bathed in the gentle morning light, with the fresh sea breeze on my skin, it felt like the perfect place to be. A midday stroll to Surf & Turf, a charming eatery in Dornoch, yielded a delightful lobster roll, zesty with lemon and mayonnaise.

Fishing was the lifeblood of these coastal towns in the 19th century, leading to the establishment of local distilleries. In Wick, the herring industry (fondly referred to as the “silver darlings”) paved the way for Old Pulteney (“liquid gold”) to keep fishermen replenished. While the fisheries eventually dwindled, whisky flourished, buoyed by a surge in global demand that has skyrocketed prices for rare bottles. (A special edition 45-year-old Old Pulteney fetched $88,000 at auction last October, far exceeding estimates.)

Such demand has sparked the revival of so-called ghost distilleries like Brora, which shuttered its doors in 1983 after over 160 years of operation. Situated just 25 minutes north of Dornoch, Brora reopened in 2021, its vintage copper stills restored and placed beneath an impressive peaked roof. Similar to Old Pulteney, its whisky lacks the characteristic smoke found in many Scotch single malts, instead offering flavors reminiscent of ocean spray. Unfortunately, I discovered that the tasting room has irregular hours, preventing me from trying what one whisky expert describes as having “briny umami hints, evocative of sushi rolls.”

Brora lies on the path to the Flow Country, an extensive area of wet peatland in Scotland's far north, serving as a sanctuary for birds such as greenshanks and golden plovers that thrive in its insect-rich bogs. This region is vying for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2024, partly due to its significance in climate change mitigation. The peat here, which can reach depths of 32 feet, locks away around 400 million tons of carbon—more than double what is stored in Britain's forests. Additionally, peat is vital for many Scottish distilleries, where it is burned to dry barley before it’s distilled into whisky, imparting the drink with its distinctive smokiness.

To explore this remarkable ecosystem, I traveled along a winding one-lane road to Forsinard Flows, a nature reserve at the heart of the Flow Country, gently nudging sheep off the way and making quick stops to capture the vibrant heath and bog—an intricate blend of russet, green, and specks of yellow, reminiscent of a colossal piece of Scottish tweed. Spanning 52,000 acres, this preserve is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, featuring well-kept boardwalks and a larch-clad observation tower that looks like the bow of a Viking ship stranded on the bog.

Standing atop the tower and gazing over a complex network of ponds, my guide, Milly Revill Hayward, shared insights about how the peat had suffered from years of neglect until recent conservation efforts began to restore it. Here, a thriving pond is actually a stagnant one, nourished by a layer of decaying sphagnum moss, sundew, and butterwort that deepens by a millimeter annually. This slow process mirrors the maturation of whisky, and being enveloped by the Flow Country offers a profound perspective on the fleeting nature of life.

The journey from Forsinard Flows led me on a 40-minute winding drive through expansive wind farms to the Forss House Hotel, located near Thurso. Established in 1810, this hotel is a celebration of quirky decor, featuring a wall adorned with vintage pendulum clocks and barstools with antler legs. Conveniently positioned at the northern tip of the NC 500—a Scottish equivalent of Route 66 that has revitalized tourism in the area—Forss House entices visitors with gourmet dinners, exquisite wine pairings, and an indulgent afternoon tea. However, what truly captured my interest were the well-stocked bar, plush leather chairs, sepia-toned photographs, and timeworn wooden floors. A crackling fire beckoned me to spend an evening savoring a whisky. After all, Scotland is known for its cozy fires and well-filled bars, fitting for a rain-soaked land with more distilleries than both Kentucky and Tennessee combined.

Back at Old Pulteney, Ross introduced me to two seasoned distillers who have dedicated decades to the craft, embodying the age-old rituals of malting, mashing, and distilling. They engaged in lively discussion about temperatures, measurements, and alcohol volumes while I listened intently. A yeasty aroma, reminiscent of cornflakes soaked in hot milk, wafted through the historic stone building. We paused before two stout stills, resembling oversized copper snowmen wearing stovepipe hats. It was within these gleaming vessels that the transformation of barley, yeast, and alcohol occurred, as without them, whisky would simply be beer.

Eventually, we entered the tasting room, which felt sleek and somewhat sterile compared to the charming atmosphere of the distillery. Ross poured tastings of Old Pulteney’s single malts, along with a new coastal series that underwent secondary maturation in Pineau des Charentes casks from France's southeastern coast. As I sampled each one, letting the whisky linger on my palate—sometimes sweet, sometimes salty, with notes of caramel—I silently appreciated the wind and water that crafted it.

“Today’s rain becomes tomorrow’s whisky,” Hanratty had remarked in Dornoch. Just after I left Old Pulteney, the rain began to pour heavily once more. There would certainly be plenty of whisky in the days to come.

This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Dinogo titled 'Amber Waves.'