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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Sean Murphy

How to pronounce the toughest Scotch whisky distillery names

The use of Scottish place-names, Gaelic titles, and regional dialect in whisky names can often make it hard for beginners to master the pronunciation of certain distilleries, particularly if you're not local.

Though even those who are, still sometimes get it wrong (you only need to ask people to pronounce Glenmorangie to see that).

To help you navigate your way through the tricky world of whisky pronunciation, we've picked out some of the toughest examples we could find to offer the correct way to say these popular brands.

Here are some of the most famous brands that can be hardest to say aloud if you've only read them on the bottle.

Laphroaig, Islay

Laphroaig Distillery on Islay. (flickrbug/CCbbySA2.0)

One of the easiest to trip up over, even looking at it is enough to give you the fear of making a fool of yourself.
Said to have been derived from the Gaelic word for the 'beautiful hollow by the broad bay’, it's not pronounced Leapfrog or Laughrag, but La-froy-g.

Bruichladdich, Islay

Another of those popular Islay drams, Bruichladdich is a more subtle option for those looking for a little less peat in their whisky.

But how do you pronounce it?

Though it can be tempting to sound out the entire word, Broo-ch-lad-itch or Bruh-clad-itch, it is actually said Broo-ich [as in loch]-laddie - be sure to drop the 'ch' at the end.

Found at the wild Rhinns of Islay, its name is formed from two Gaelic words 'brudhach' (brae) and 'chladach' (shore).

Glen Garioch, Highlands

Glen Garioch Distillery in Old Meldrum. (SM)


This popular distillery in Old Meldrum in Aberdeenshire, which has just announced exciting news, suffers from a lot of confusion surrounding how you say its name.
While it can be tempting to say Glen Gariok or Glen Garry-otch, it's actually pronounced Glen Gee – ry taking its pronunciation from the local Doric dialect.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

The name of this popular lowland whisky is regularly mangled by those not used to speaking its name allowed.

Derived from the Gaelic 'Achadh an Oisein', meaning 'corner of the field', Auchentoshan is pronounced och[as in loch]-en-tosh-en.

Caol Ila

Caol Ila distillery on the Sound of Islay. (Diageo/PA)


Another hugely popular Islay whisky that is hard to pronounce is Caol Ila.
Taken from the Gaelic name 'Caol Ìle' - ‘Sound of Islay’ - it is pronounced Cull–eela - said in one continuous word.

Ledaig

One of our favourites, this peated dram from Tobermory Distillery on Mull is one of the easiest to mispronounce.

Named for the original name for the distillery, it's not Lead-aig or Led-Egg but Le-chig, with the 'd' becoming a 'ch'

Bunnahabhain Distillery

Bunnahabhain Distillery on Islay. (Nigel Brown/CCbySA2.0)

Found on the northern part of Islay, this popular little distillery's name is taken from the Gaelic 'Bun na h-Abhainn' meaning ‘mouth of the river’.

The 'bh' becomes a soft 'v' meaning it's pronounced bu-na-ha-venn.

Glenmorangie

Guaranteed to start an argument in any group - even Scots - this seemingly easy to pronounce whisky always trips people up.

If you fall in to the Glen Mo-ran-Gee camp, I've got bad news for you, it's pronounced Glen Mor-un-jee - with the stress on the 'mor' section, making it rhyme with orangey.

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