It's the eve of Burns' Night - so how better to celebrate than with a sozzling session of whisky-tasting! From classic Scottish - to some gingery Japanese - we've got a great selection to warm your whisky swirling pallets!

To help Phillip and Holly on their merry way is one of the only female distillers in the world - Gillian Macdonald - as she talks us through her top whisky picks...

Gillian's guide to terminology

Single Malt - Means it's made from 100 per cent malted barley (one starting grain) and produced in a batch process, from a single distillery. (Tip: If you mix two Single Malts together you get a Blended Malt).

Grain Whisky - This means that it's made from wheat, maze and barley. They go through a continuous process rather than a batch process. (Tip: You can also get Blended Grains - which is essentially two grains blended together).

Blended Whisky - If you take a Single Malt and a Single Grain Whisky you get a blend of whisky. (Tip: This means you are mixing grains from more than one distillery; mixing the process; and using a mixture of wheat, maze and barley).

Gillian's tasting tips

The glass - Ideally you need a tulip shaped glass - this enables all of the flavours to funnel up to your nose.

Smelling - Your nose is the most important part of the process (you spend more time smelling than the tasting as the majority of flavours you detect are with your nose).

Water - Sometimes you need to add water to your whisky. The water changes its make up and enables you to detect more flavours. Some whiskies benefit from adding water and some don't. It all depends on case by case and there is no definitive reason.

Tastes - Most whiskies concentrate on fruity flavours - look out for citrus, pear, and orange.

Barrels - Different barrels (or casks) will contribute to different flavours. Portwood Cask is dark cherry and date flavour, Oloroso Sherry Cask is citrus and orange flavour and Bourbon Cask is a spice flavour.

Make up your own mind - Gillian's biggest tip is make up your own mind. Don't go by the books; go into it blind and make your own conclusions. A 70-year-old whisky will not necessarily be better than a 10-year-old whisky.

Whisky Bible - You may hear the term, Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. This features 4,500 different whiskies which are all commercially available.

The three main Scottish Whisky regions are: Highlands (which includes Speyside), Lowlands and Islay.

The whiskies being tested by Holly and Phillip are Glenkinchie 12, Ballantine's 17 Year Old, Glenfiddich 12 Year Old and Laphroaig.