whisky

Single malt is pure malted whisky made by a single distiller. The best-selling single malts in the world, the Glenlivet and Glenfiddich, are made beside the River Spey in north-eastern Scotland. The Spirit of Speyside Festival starts on 29 April.

Edinburgh may be the capital, but Glasgow has the capital. Well, that's what Glaswegians say. The fierce rivalry between the two cities is based on the contrast between Glasgow's working-class traditions and Edinburgh's ruling establishment.

Robert Crawford, who wrote The Bard: Robert Burns, A Biography, says that Scotland's national poet shares with the best hip-hop artists a genius for rhymes that are completely "liberated from the hegemony of standard English".

Britain is experiencing the lowest winter temperatures for decades. People badly need something warm to drink, and an enterprising Norfolk farming family has got it: St. George's, the very first English-distilled whisky since the 19th century.

Visit the Scotch Whisky Experience on the Royal Mile and you'll learn that each single-malt has its own personality. And because hundreds of years of knowledge go into making great whisky, you'll be told that it's best not to mix it with Red Bull.

The summer days in Scotland are mild and long. The Highland Games and the Edinburgh Festival dominate the social calendar, but away from the cities and crowds, there are castles, beaches, pubs, mountains and, of course, lochs filled with mythical monsters.

The place names of the Scottish Highlands are filled with history, tragedy, music, legend and whisky: Aberfeldy, Blairgowrie, Culloden, Dalwhinnie, Fort William, Glencoe, Invergordon, Kyle of Lochalsh, Muir of Ord, Oban, Stornoway and Tobermory.