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 30 distilleries, and claiming the title "whisky capital of the world", its production has markedly declined. Most of the distilleries have gone out of business and little trace of them remains. The reason for this decline was that the town was "churning out whisky in volume ... with little concern for quality", according to a 2018 book that covers the entire industry and its history. By 2010 only three distilleries continued to produce whisky in Campbeltown: Springbank, Glengyle, and Glen Scotia. The Springbank distillery produces three distinct whiskies; Springbank, Hazelburn, and Longrow. Glengyle distillery has only recently been revived by J & A Mitchell and Co Ltd., who own and operate the Springbank distillery, and its whisky is sold under the name Kilkerran to avoid confusion with the Highland blended malt named Glengyle. By 2016, Kilkerran had started bottling and selling a 12-year-old spirit, to go along with their previously released No-Age-Statement offerings. In recent years, there is a growing interest in reviving Campbeltown's historic single malt whisky industry, with two new distilleries currently under construction, and another new distillery announced

Flavours

A 2019 review indicated that the whisky produced here offers notes of "dried fruit, vanilla, toffee, and brine within a dry and pungent body". The Visit Scotland web site is more specific, defining Springbank malts as "robust and smoky with hints of their maritime roots", the Glen Scotia single malts as "lighter with grassy notes" and Glengyle's Kilkerran whisky as "lighter and sweeter, but with the distinctive oily and salty notes". Modern Campbeltown single malts are also typically described as having a distinct "industrial funk" - said to be reminiscent of mechanical oils or creosote, vegetal matter, mushrooms, wet sacks, and mulch - in their flavor profiles that characterize them from whisky produced by the four other recognized Scottish distilling localities (Lowland, Highland, Speyside, and Islay).

Legal status

Campbeltown is a "protected locality" for Scotch Whisky distilling under UK Government legislation.

List of operational Campbeltown distilleries

List of upcoming Campbeltown distilleries

List of defunct Campbeltown distilleries