Malt Whisky Pronunciation

Pronouncing some whisky distillery names can be tricky

Many scotch whiskies draw their names from the town, village or valley where they are situated. Many of these places have Gaelic names which are particularly difficult to identify phonetically for those whose Gaelic is a bit rusty or non-existent. This article will clarify the pronunciation of the trickiest scotch whiskies.

Going into an off-licence or a specialist whisky shop can be an unsettling experience for those who don’t know their whiskies and who are scared of looking a fool in front of a gaggle of whisky enthusiasts (some of whose pronunciations are a bit suspect too!).

Many whiskies are pronounced exactly the way they are spelt, but there are the distilleries that can cause most of the problems. Here they are alphabetically, with the pronunciation in italics:

Allt-a-Bhainne – Alt-a-bain. A sweet flowery highland whisky.

An Cnoc – An-Noc. A lovely creamy whisky with a hint of pineapple tanginess.

Auchentoshan – Ocken-toshan. One of the few lowland whiskies left A fruity, citrussy, floral whisky.

Auchroisk – according to Michael Jackson’s Malt Whisky Companion, there is some discrepancy between the distillery who pronounce it Auck-Roysk and the locals who pronounce it either Ack-Rask or Ath-Rask. A soft aperitif whisky.

Bruichladdich – Brook-Laddie. A dry, salty, tangy whisky from the West of Islay.

Bunnahabhain – Boona-Har-Vin. A fruity and floral Islay whisky, very unlike the majority of its heavily peated neighbours.

Caol Ila – Cull-Eela, meaning the Sound of Islay, the stretch of water between Islay and the neighbouring island of Jura. Caol Ila are smoky, heavily peated whiskies.

Clynelish – Cline-Leash. A distillery from the North coast of Scotland producing a spicy, mustardy malt whisky.

Dailuaine – Dall-Yoo-Ain. A malty, fruity speyside whisky.

Glen Garioch – Glen-Geery. A lightly peated highland whisky with a flowery spiciness.

Glen Mhor – Glen-Vor. A silent distillery since 1986, producing big, sweet, treacly after dinner whiskies.

Glenmorangie – Glen-Morrun-Jee (rhyme with orangey). One of the greats. Creamy and soft.

Lagavulin – Lagga-voolin. A huge medicinal, peaty and smoky monster from Islay.

Laphroaig – La-Froyg. Lagavulin’s neighbour. The most extreme of any malt whisky – iodine, peat, seaweed in abundance.

Ledaig – Led-Chig which is the Gallic name for Tobermory, the capital of the island of Mull. Ledaigs are heavily peated whiskies from the Tobermory distillery.

Poit Dhub – Potch-Goo. Poit Dhub is a vatted malt from the Island of Skye.

Tomintoul – Tom-in-towel. A gentle Speyside dram with a zesty kick.

There are also a number of pronunciations of specific expressions of whiskies which also cause a number of problems. Here are three:

A’bunadh – a-boon-ar. A big heavy after-dinner whisky from Aberlour.

Islay – Eye-la. Home of some of the world’s greatest whiskies. A peat lover’s paradise.

Uigeadail. Oog-a-darl. This is a thumping, sherried expression from Ardbeg, named after the brooding loch where the distillery draws its water.

Source:
Patrick David Michael Barrow