Campbeltown
The Kintyre peninsula
The Kintyre peninsula - that long green finger which points towards Ireland - is the most southerly point on the West Coast. It was a haven for illicit distillers in days gone by. Some go so far as to claim that the art of distilling arrived here with the first Gaels from Ireland, in the 6th century.
Campbeltown, the only township of any size in Kintyre, was certainly one of the first centres of commercial distilling, and Campbeltown whiskies themselves had a reputation to rival Speyside. Between 1880 and the 1920s, there were thirty-four working distilleries here, producing some 2 million gallons of spirit per annum. Campbeltown vied with Elgin as 'the whisky capital'. Today there are only two distilleries, Springbank and Glen Scotia.
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