The Wild NorthHighlands & Whisky.

Glenfarclas has been owned by the Grant family since 1865 — six generations, independent, no corporate ownership. In the Speyside valley where most distilleries are now owned by Diageo, Pernod Ricard or William Grant, Glenfarclas is one of the last significant family-owned operations. The Ship's Room visitor centre (the panelling came from the ocean liner SS Empress of Australia) is eccentric and authentic. The whisky is sherried, complex and significantly cheaper at the distillery than in bottles elsewhere. The 10-year at cask strength is the best value expression.

The world's best-selling single malt — Glenfiddich pioneered the concept of single malt whisky as a premium product in the 1960s and 1970s, when the industry was almost exclusively blended. The distillery in Dufftown is the largest in Speyside, still family-owned (William Grant family since 1887), and has a visitor centre sophisticated enough to handle large numbers without losing authenticity. The Pioneer Experience (2 hours, book ahead) accesses the cooperage and blending room. On the same site: the Balvenie distillery (separate visit, more exclusive, one of the few still malting on-floor).

The last pitched battle on British soil — 16 April 1746, lasting approximately 60 minutes. The Jacobite Highland army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was destroyed by the Duke of Cumberland's government forces. The battle killed approximately 1,500 Jacobites in the fighting and the immediate aftermath of pursuit; the subsequent government pacification of the Highlands killed far more and effectively ended Gaelic Highland culture as a living social system. The NTS visitor centre is excellent; the moorland battlefield is preserved and marked with clan flags. Walking the ground where the Jacobite charge covered 500 yards of open moorland into artillery and musketry is sobering.

Loch Ness contains more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined — 7.45 cubic kilometres of water, 23 miles long and up to 230 metres deep. The water is almost completely opaque with peat particles, which is why sonar surveys have found the loch essentially unmappable below certain depths. The monster legend dates to 565 AD (Saint Columba's encounter, described by Adomnan) and was revived by a 1933 newspaper report and the famous 1934 "Surgeon's Photograph," which was admitted to be a hoax in 1994. The loch itself — dark, cold, enormous, the mountains falling directly into it — requires no legend to be extraordinary.

Glencoe is a glacially carved valley of extraordinary drama — vertical walls of dark volcanic rock (the Bidean nam Bian massif on the south, the Aonach Eagach ridge on the north — the narrowest maintained ridge walk in Scotland), a valley floor of bog and river, and the specific quality of Highland light that turns the rock purple and amber at dawn and dusk. The Massacre of Glencoe (13 February 1692, when government soldiers billeted with the MacDonald clan killed 38 of their hosts) has given the glen a historical resonance that compounds the landscape. The NTS visitor centre at the bottom of the glen has a good exhibition. The Three Sisters viewpoint from the lay-by on the A82 is the photograph.

The Black Cuillin — a horseshoe ridge of black gabbro rock with 12 Munros (peaks over 914m) in an 11km arc, the most technically demanding mountain terrain in Britain outside the Alps. The rock is gabbro — a coarse-grained igneous rock with exceptional friction, making it ideal for climbing but requiring full mountaineering competence for the ridge traverse. The Red Cuillin (granite, rounded, gentler) are adjacent and accessible to walkers. The Fairy Pools on the River Brittle beneath the Cuillins are clear mountain pools of extraordinary blue-green colour — a 2km walk from the car park, always cold, swimmable in summer by the brave.

The only distillery on the Isle of Skye — Talisker has been produced at Carbost on the shores of Loch Harport since 1830, where the water comes off peated moorland and the sea air is ever-present. The result is one of the most distinctive whiskies in Scotland: powerful, maritime, peppery and smoky, with an iodine-and-seaweed quality that is entirely specific to this location. Robert Louis Stevenson called it "the king of drinks." The distillery tour accesses the traditional copper pot stills (the worm tubs — old-fashioned condensing coils in water tanks — are retained because they contribute to the character). The 10-year is the benchmark; the 18-year is extraordinary.

Islay (EYE-la) is a small island off the Argyll coast with 9 active distilleries — the highest concentration of whisky production per square kilometre of any place on earth. The whiskies are characterised by extreme peat influence (the malted barley is dried over burning peat, producing a phenolic, medicinal, iodine-heavy character): Laphroaig ("seaweed and hospital"), Lagavulin (George Orwell's favourite, famously the preferred drink of Ron Swanson), Ardbeg ("the ultimate Islay"), Bruichladdich (the only distillery farming its own barley). The ferry from Kennacraig takes 2 hours 15 minutes. Add one night minimum; two is better.

The road south from Fort William to Oban via Glencoe, Ballachulish, and the A819 through Inveraray is one of the finest driving routes in Britain — sea lochs, mountain passes, ancient woodland and the changing light of the west coast. Stop at Inveraray (the planned 18th-century town on Loch Fyne, rebuilt by the Duke of Argyll, with Inveraray Castle still occupied by the Duke of Argyll — the Clan Campbell seat). The A83 from Inveraray to Lochgilphead is the most beautiful road on the route. Oban is the gateway to the western islands and has the best fish and chips in Scotland.

Oban Distillery sits in the middle of the town — surrounded by the shops and hotels of Oban, constrained in its size by its urban location, and consequently one of the smallest distilleries in the Diageo estate. The 14-year expression is the standard bottling: lightly peated, coastal, with a brine and heather character that bridges the Highland and Island styles. The distillery predates the town around it (1794) — when it was built, Oban was barely a village. The tour is short (45 minutes) and the tasting is generous. Worth combining with the Seafood Hut on the pier for a dram-and-oyster afternoon.