January means welcoming in the New Year… and celebrating the life and times of Scotland’s greatest poet – so we asked an expert rather closer to home for a few tips for choosing the best dram of whisky for a tipple on Dec 31st or your Burn’s Night supper!

It’s a typical response from Whisky-lovers from all over the UK who visit Lincoln and stumble across Norman Houghton’s Whisky Shop on the city’s Bailgate: “’I’ve died and gone to heaven!’ they always say.” confesses Norman as he looks around at what must be the definitive collection of single malts, blends and other spirits in the county.

The shop stocks 365 different types of whisky from distilleries across Scotland and from Ireland and the US, but specialises predominantly in single malts from across Scotland. Because supermarket whiskies, produced in massive quantities, must present the consumer with consistent flavours and characteristics, they tend to be rather bland to say the least, whereas distilleries, producing whisky in smaller quantites, are able to include unique characteristics in their single malts in keeping with their grain, their region and their method of production.

Whilst the wine industry has appellations or regions, Scottish whiskies may come from one of the five whisky regions – and this, according to Norman, is the key to choosing a great tipple this month. The five main whisky regions of Scotland are Islay, Speyside, the Islands, and the Highland & Lowland regions.

Islay whiskies retain a taste of smoke or peat. Those distilleries to the south of the region  (Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Laphroaig) tend to be strongly flavoured and phenolic. North Islay whiskies are lighter and taste of peat. Speyside whiskies meanwhile contribute heavily to blended supermarket whiskeys and are soft and round with honey-sweet fruity characteristics as found in tipples from Glenfiddich and Glenlivet. The Islands provide whiskies bearning the names Skye, Jura, Scapa and Talisker, with peaty, salty and briney flavours, whilst Highland and Lowland whiskies – from North and South of the Clyde respectively – produce warm, heathery, fruity whiskies.

If all that seems a little too ‘Jilly Goolden’, there are slightly less esoteric ways of ensuring a good drop – age and price being two such quantifiers. Unlike Irish whiskey (which, incidentally, is features the otherwise extraneous ‘e’), which tends to peak after a certain period of time, Scottish whisky continues to improve over the years almost