The Scots have an appealingly philosophical way of looking at weather. You can hear it in that most consolingly poetic, dram-half-full of popular Scottish sayings: “Today’s rain is tomorrow’s whisky.”

Poetry and philosophy only goes so far in the Scotch whisky business, however. The truth is that not all of the rain that ultimately goes through that alchemical process actually falls in Scotland. Barley farmers north of the border often struggle to meet demand from the Scotch industry, which means sometimes it’s East Anglian rains, having watered East Anglian grains, that emerge transformed into glowing gold from Scottish distilleries.

Increasingly, they emerge from East Anglian distilleries, too. Both Norfolk (St George’s Distillery, run by the English Whisky Co in Roundham) and Suffolk (brewer and wine merchant Adnams in Southwold)have been turning out impressive young whiskies, after St George’s became the first active English distillery in more than a century when it fired up its stills in 2006. Both firms have picked up medals at leading global spirits competitions this year: Adnams got an International Wine & Spirits Competition silverfor its almost peachy, soft good-value four-year-old Adnams Single Malt Whisky (£34.99, adnams.co.uk) while the English Whisky Co’s suave vanilla-creamy The English Original (£36.99, englishwhisky.co.uk) got a gold from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

With time such an important ingredient in quality whisky, future drams from these two well-run distilleries can only get better. That’s certainly what’s happened with other European newcomers such as Sweden and Wales, purveyors of such luxurious Christmas fireside partners as the intensely spicy Spirit of Hven Merak Swedish Single Malt Whisky Seven Stars No. 2 (£93.95, thewhiskyexchange.com) and the rich, dark honeyed Penderyn Portwood Welsh Single Malt Whisky (£62.60, penderynstore.com). And it’s even more apparent in the maturely confident whisky industry in Japan. The exotically fragrant fruitiness of Suntory Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve Single Malt Whisky (£54.95, thewhiskyexchange.com) is a good place to start.

Back at the source, 2017 has been a mixed year for the Scotch industry. Exports are booming but the Scotch Whisky Association was not shy in blaming a one-million bottle drop in sales since the budget in March on a 4% rise in duty; more than £10 out of the £12.77 average price of a 70cl bottle of whisky now goes to tax. And the SWA’s mood was hardly improved in November, when it lost its battle to stop minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland, a move that will make the cheapest bottle of Scotch £14 north of the border.

None of which has deterred the new distilleries that have emerged in the past couple of years, or those been brought back from the dead after years of inactivity. With the revival of production in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Borders, and with additions in Islay, Speyside and the Highlands, this is the most exciting period for Scotch that I can remember.

We’ll have to wait and see what new names such as Borders, Clydeside and Dornoch come up with. In the meantime, I’ll turn to old favourites to suit the mood. If I’m after candied mellow softness, it’ll be a battle between Glen Garioch’s 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt (£49, Oddbins) and the ever-charming The Glenrothes Vintage Reserve Speyside Single Malt (£35, bbr.com), while Talisker Skye (£25, waitrosecellar.com), or, if I’m lucky, the even more intense Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt (£73.70, masterofmalt.com), will take their place in that moment when only the taste of smoke and peat, pepper and iodine, will do.

Six great Christmas whiskies

Mackmyra Swedish Whisky (£43.99, Waitrose)
Founded around the turn of the millennium, Sweden’s original malt whisky distillery has been consistently impressive. This entry-level dram is soft, pretty, light and easy drinking with toffee apple/tarte tatin sweetness.

Nikka All Malt Japanese Whisky (from £36, majestic.co.uk; nywines.co.uk; thewhiskyexchange.com)
Japan has been making some of the finest whiskies in the world for some years now. While the best are expensive, this is great value, a blend of malts with a rich, full-flavoured, subtly spicy Terry’s Chocolate Orange character.

Ben Bracken Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (£17.49, Lidl)
At £17.49, this wispily smoky Islay is another fine value addition to Lidl’s burgeoning whisky range. At £39, the Ben Bracken 22 Year old is even more impressive: super-intense but balanced with smoke, salt, nuts and citrus, a steal for a whisky of this age.

Glengoyne 15 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (from £47.40, thewhiskyexchange.com; masterofmalt.com)
If you prefer whisky without the peat and smoke, then this luxuriously textured dram from Highland distiller Glengoyne is one of the best around in a less elemental style that is all about barley sugar and fudgey richness with balancing citrus notes.

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (from £25, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose)
A failsafe classic and the essence of Islay’s smoke, peat and spirit (as a superb book on the west coast island had it), Laphroaig’s house expression balances the full-on iodine and fire with liquorice and Indian spice notes.

Compass Box The Spice Tree Premium Blended Scotch Whisky (from £47.50, Oddbins, thewhiskyexchange.com; masterofmalt.com)
The emphasis in top-flight whisky may be all on single malts, but the art of the blend is still important, not least in the hands of Compass Box, the bottlers behind this oh-so-Christmassy dram, with its baking spice and nutty-fruitcake intensity.

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