The Classic Malts of Scotland is a selection of six single malt whiskies

Single malt Scotch

Single Malt Scotch is whisky made in Scotland using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient...

, launched and marketed together in 1988 by United Distillers and Vintners

United Distillers

United Distillers was a Scottish company formed in 1987 from combining the businesses of Distillers Company and Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness. The company owned six Scotch whisky brands, which were relaunched as the Classic Malts range...

 which is now owned by Diageo

Diageo

Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

. They are often displayed together in bars and liquor stores, and the marketing has proved quite successful. The six malts are:

Whisky	Age	Alc. %	Region
Dalwhinnie Dalwhinnie Single Malt Dalwhinnie distillery, in the Highland village of Dalwhinnie in Scotland, produces Single malt Scotch whisky classified amongst the Highland Single Malts. The distillery was founded with the name of the nearby town Strathspey in the late 1890s. The site was chosen for its access to clear spring...	15 years	43 %	Highland Highland Single Malts Highland Single Malts are single malt Scotch whiskies produced in the Highland region of Scotland. This categorization includes the whiskies produced on the islands around the perimeter of Scotland , except for Islay...
Talisker Talisker Talisker is an Island Single Malt Scotch whisky produced by the Talisker Distillery, Carbost, Scotland; the only distillery on the Isle of Skye. The distillery is operated by United Distillers and Vintners for Diageo, and is marketed as part of their Classic Malts series...	10 years	45.8 %	Isle of Skye
Cragganmore Cragganmore Cragganmore is a Scotch whisky distillery situated in the village of Ballindalloch in Banffshire in Scotland.The distillery was founded in 1869 by John Smith on land leased from Sir George Macpherson-Grant. The site was chosen by Smith both for its proximity to the waters of the Craggan burn and...	12 years	40 %	Speyside Speyside Single Malts Speyside single malts are single malt Scotch whiskies, distilled in Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland....
Oban	14 years	43 %	West Highland
Lagavulin Lagavulin Single Malt Lagavulin Single Malt is an Islay single malt Scotch whisky produced at Lagavulin on the island of Islay, United Kingdom. The whisky has a powerful, peat-smoke aroma, and is described as being robustly full-bodied, well balanced, and smooth, with a slight sweetness on the palate.The standard...	16 years	43 %	Islay
Glenkinchie Glenkinchie Glenkinchie is a Scotch single malt whisky, produced at the Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian, Scotland. It is one of only three remaining Lowland malt whiskies in production.- The Distillery:...	12 years	43 %	Lowland Lowland Single Malts Lowland Single Malts are single malt whiskies distilled in the lowlands of Scotland.The region now only has three currently producing distilleries: Glenkinchie, near Edinburgh; Auchentoshan, near Clydebank; and Bladnoch in Galloway....

UDV's regions differ from the more conventional categorisations of Highland

Highland Single Malts

Highland Single Malts are single malt Scotch whiskies produced in the Highland region of Scotland. This categorization includes the whiskies produced on the islands around the perimeter of Scotland , except for Islay...

 (and subregion Island

Island Single Malts

Island Single Malts is a general term for single malt Scotch whiskies produced on the islands around the perimeter of the Scottish mainland. The exception is Islay, which is considered a separate whisky producing region...

), Lowland

Lowland Single Malts

Lowland Single Malts are single malt whiskies distilled in the lowlands of Scotland.The region now only has three currently producing distilleries: Glenkinchie, near Edinburgh; Auchentoshan, near Clydebank; and Bladnoch in Galloway....

, Speyside

Speyside Single Malts

Speyside single malts are single malt Scotch whiskies, distilled in Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland....

, Campbeltown

Campbeltown Single Malts

Campbeltown Single Malts are single malt Scotch whiskies distilled in the burgh of Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. Once a major producer of whisky with as many as 28 distilleries, and claiming the title "whisky capital of the world", production has markedly declined...

, and Islay. The region of West Highland was created to separate between Oban and Dalwhinnie. Talisker is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye, which has never been a whisky region unto itself, but would be in the Island subregion; though this categorisation enabled UDV to include both Talisker and Lagavulin, strongly flavoured malts with strong followings. Campbeltown's association with the distillation of whisky has greatly subsided over the years, leaving merely three working distilleries in the region, none owned by UDV. The Lowlands have fared little better, leaving only four, of which only Glenkinchie is UDV owned.

Distiller's editions

All six of the "Classic Malts" have released limited edition "Distiller's editions", which are finished in special casks selected by the master distiller at each distillery. Dalwhinnie's are finished in Oloroso

Oloroso

Oloroso is a variety of sherry produced by oxidative aging. It is normally darker than amontillado and has a higher glycerine content, which makes it smoother and less dry. Oloroso is usually dark and nutty....

 casks, Glenkinchie in Amontillado

Amontillado

Amontillado is a variety of sherry, characterized by being darker than fino but lighter than oloroso. It is named for the Montilla region of Spain, where the style originated in the 18th century, although the name 'amontillado' is sometimes used commercially as a simple measure of colour to label...

, Cragganmore in Port, Oban in Fino

Fino

Fino is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of sherry. They are drunk comparatively young, and unlike the sweeter varieties should be drunk soon after the bottle is opened as exposure to air can cause them to lose their flavour within hours.-Flor:The defining component of Fino...

 sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

 from Montilla

Montilla

Montilla a town and municipality of southern Spain, in the province of Córdoba, 32 miles south of the provincial capital, Córdoba, by the Córdoba-Bobadilla railway. , the town had a population of 23,245. The olive oil of the district is abundant and good, and it is the peculiar flavour of the pale...

, Talisker in amoroso sherry, and Lagavulin in Pedro Ximénez

Pedro Ximénez

Pedro Ximénez is the name of a white grape grown in certain regions of Spain, and also a varietal wine, an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry...

sherry.