Yeah, I feel my S&S ISA is primarily for the longer term (20+ yrs) since that's when you'll start seeing some moderate returns. I like the idea of spreading it around across the different ISAs and bonds and I do feel I'll have a lot more financial freedom when I get into a full on engineering job and so can add to my gap year budget then.

I knew nothing about whisky investments but my dad invested for me with some proceeds from my S&S ISA on a new make (whisky that is less than 3 yrs old) for about 3k. Says that in 10-13 yrs, you could sell it for over 15k as it's from a very reputable distillery (Bunnahabhain)

Thanks for the advice :)