Scotch Section
Wish you knew more about Scotch, how to shop for it, and what makes one Scotch different from another? Then you're in the right place!
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Scotch Profiles
Scotch Whisky {Blended}:
Whiskey is made from grain. Similar to beer, malted barley and other grains are the source of the sugars necessary for fermentation.
Brewers also add hops to their beer. Hops help balance a beer’s sweetness and acts as a preservative to stabilize the beer’s flavor. Distilleries use oak aging to balance a whiskey’s flavors. They use distilling, rather than brewing, to increase the alcohol level, which preserves the whiskey. A blended Scotch is a blend of several if not dozens of Scotches varying in age and coming from several different distilleries.
Scotland requires all scotches must be distilled and matured a minimum of three years in oak barrels. Blended Scotch names are some of the most popular in the Scotch world; Dewar’s, J&B, Chivas, and Johnnie Walker to name a few.
Single Malt Scotches:
The most distinctive Scotch whiskies are the single malts. In contrast to Blended Scotches, single malt scotch is produced at one distillery (“single”), using only malted barley as the grain (“malt”), and distilled in copper pot stills. This produces a rich and a bit “rough around the edges” whisky and, because it’s not blended with whiskies from other distilleries, very unique. Expect to pay significantly more for this type of scotch, much like a fine wine, but the quality is well worth it.
There are 4 main regions in Scotland, all of which impart various structure, flavors and aromas to a scotch.
Highlands
Characteristics: Moving north of the imaginary line takes us in to the Highland region. The region includes most of the rest of Scotland, with the exception of the Island of Islay and Campbeltown, and thus its malts vary greatly in character. Generalisations about the Highland region are less valid, as its whiskies will range from dry to sweet and some even have a touch of smoke and peat. Examples include Glenmorangie, Blair Athol and Talisker.
Lowlands
Characteristics: The Lowlands region lies south of an imaginary line drawn from the Clyde estuary to the Tay estuary. It can claim only three working distilleries. Whiskies from the Lowlands tend to be soft and light in character. They often display very malty, grassy characteristics and subtle delicate aromas. Examples include Glenkinchie, Blandoch and Auchentoshan.
Speyside
Characteristics: Technically Speyside lies within the Highland Region. It is the heart of Scottish distilling with nearly half of the country’s distillers on or near the Spey River. Speysides are essentially sweet whiskies. They have little peaty character (although some have a whiff of smoke) and their salient characteristic is estery - typically, this aroma is compared to pear-drops or solvent (nail varnish remover, particularly). They can be highly perfumed: scents of carnations, roses, violets, apples, bananas, cream soda and lemonade have all been discovered in Speyside malts. They take maturation in sherry-wood well and can be rich and full bodied, medium and light-bodied
Islay
Characteristics: Located in the Inner Hebrides, the small Island of Islay is often called 'Whisky Island' given its concentration of eight distilleries. The island produces very distinct malts, generally heavily peated and smoky in taste. Examples include Bowmore, Ardbeg and Laphroaig.
Irish Whiskey
In contrast to Scotch whisky production, there are only four working Irish distilleries, and only three are currently selling whiskey. The small number of Irish distilleries explains the disparity between the amounts of Scotch whiskies on the market when compared to the number of Irish whiskeys.
When comparing the differences between Irish whiskey to Scotch whisky, people will often say that the difference is that Irish whiskey is distilled three times (producing a lighter flavor), while scotch is only distilled twice. The other argument is that Irish whiskey is not smoky, and Scotch whisky is. These generalizations are accurate for many whiskeys, but not all of them.
Irish whiskeys, like Jameson, contain "pure pot still" whiskey. Pure pot still whiskey is unique to Ireland. Unlike single malt scotch that is made from malted barley, pure post still whiskey comes from malted and unmalted barley that gives many Irish whiskeys their distinctive flavor.
