The term scotch means that the whisky was distilled and matured in the country whose name it bears. Scotch is the most complex of whiskeys, with unusual combinations of sweetness and dryness. The sweetness coming from the primary grain, malted barley, which is the singular ingredient that is mostly associated with scotch. The dryness comes from the smoky qualities that are derived by drying the malted barley in kilns fired with peat from local bogs and the water which runs through the heather and peat moors.
Scotch is aged in a variety of barrels; used port, sherry, bourbon, etc., which add to the complexity and variety of scotches.
All of the largest selling scotches are blended, not only from malts but also from the lighter and more neutral tasting grain whiskeys made from unmalted barley or, more often, corn.
The object of blending is to iron out the rough edges of individual whiskies and produce something that will appeal to (or be acceptable to) a broader taste.
The blender usually has a wide variety of malts available from all four regions of scotch malts.
Like wines - and many other drinks - the single malts of Scotland are grouped by region. As with wines, these regions offer a guideline rather than a rule. Within Bordeaux, a particular Pomerol, for example, might have a richness more reminiscent of Burgundy; similar comparisons can be made in Scotland. The regions in Scotland have their origins in the regulation of licenses and duties, but they do also embrace certain characteristics.
The Lowlands
The Lowlands tend to produce whiskeys in which the softness of the malt itself is more evident, untempered by Highland peatiness or coastal brine and seaweed. The Lowlands is defined by a line following old country boundaries and running from the Clyde estuary to the river Tay. The line swings north of Glasgow and Dumbarton and runs to Dundee and Perth.
The Highlands
The Highlands is by far the bigger region, and inevitably embraces wide variations. The western part of the Highlands, at least on the mainland, has only a few, scattered, distilleries, and it is difficult to generalize about their character. If they have anything in common, it is a rounded, firm, dry character, with some peatiness. The far north of the Highlands has several whiskies with a notably heathery, spicy character, probably deriving both from the soil and the coastal location of all distilleries. The more sheltered East Highlands and the Midlands of Scotland (sometimes described as the South Highlands) have a number of notably fruity whiskies.
None of these Highland areas are officially regarded as regions, but the area between them is known as Speyside, universally acknowledged as a heartland of malt distillation. This area, between the cities of Inverness and Aberdeen, sweeps from granite mountains down to fertile countryside, where barley is among the crops. It is the watershed of a system of rivers, the principal among which is the Spey. Although it is not precisely defined, Speyside is commonly agreed to extend at least from the river Findhorn to the Deveron. Within the region are several other rivers, notably including the Livet.
The Speyside single malts are noted in general for their elegance and complexity, and often a refined smokiness. Beyond that, they have two extremes: the big, sherryish type and the lighter, more subtle style.
Within Speyside, the river Livet is so famous that its name is borrowed by some whiskies from far beyond its glen. Only one may call itself The Glenlivet; only two more are produced in the valley, and a further one in the parish. These are all delicate malts, and it could be more tentatively argued that other valleys have malts that share certain characteristics.
The Highland region includes a few good coastal and island malts, but one peninsula and just one island have been of such historical importance in the industry that they are each regarded as being regions in their own right.
Campbelltown
On the peninsula called the Mull of Kintyre, Campbeltown once had about 30 distilleries. Today, it has only three. One of these, Springbank, produces two different single malts. This apparent contradiction is achieved by the use of a lightly peated malt in one and a smokier kilning in the other. The Campbeltown single malts are very distinctive, with a briny character. Although there are only three of them, they are still considered to represent a region in their own right.
Islay
Pronounced "eye-luh", this is the greatest of whisky islands; much of it deep with peat, lashed by the wind, rain and sea in the inner Hebrides. It is only 25 miles long, but has no fewer than eight distilleries, although not all are working. Its single malts are noted for their seaweedy, iodine-like, phenolic character. A dash of Islay malt gives the unmistakable tang of Scotland to many blended whiskies.
Single Malts are the most natural of Spirits formed, more than any other, by their environment. For that same reason, they are the most individualistic. No other Spirit offers such diversity of character nor epitomizes the distiller's art, more than Single Malts.
The term SINGLE has a very clear and precise meaning. It indicates that the whisky was made in only one distillery, and has not been blended with any from elsewhere.
The term MALT indicates the raw material: barley malt, and no other grain or fermentable material; infused with water, fermented with yeast and distilled in a pot.
The term SCOTCH means that the whisky was distilled and matured in the country whose name it bears. Outside Britain, there are two single malts (but no Scotch) made in Ireland. There are also three or four single malts (but no Scotch) made in Japan.
A SINGLE MALT SCOTCH must fulfill all three requirements. It must be the product of only one distillery; it must be made exclusively from barley malt; and it must be made in Scotland.
There has been the odd occasion when the product of one run of the still has been aged in identical casks, then bottled. This has been described as a "Single/Single". That is not the normal procedure. Although a single malt always comes from one distillery, whisky from half-a-dozen production batches over a two-year period, aged in different casks, might be married in wood for several weeks and then fed into on bottling run. The age on the bottle will represent the youngest whisky inside.
Some single malts are labeled as "Pure Malt". However, this term is also often used to indicate a vatting together of malt whiskies made in several distilleries. This type of whisky is technically known as vatted malt. It may also be labeled simply as a "Malt Whisky" or "Scotch Malt Whisky". Although such bottlings are perfectly legitimate and often excellent products, their labels usually identify only the brand-owner or blender, and not the distilleries.
A blended Scotch commonly contains about 40 percent malt; the odd one contains more than 60 percent. The cheaper blends contain much less. The deluxe blends are likely to contain a good proportion of well-matured malt, which is why some carry an age statement. Once again the age statement reflects the age of the youngest whisky.
All single malts are individuals, in some cases as distinct from each other as they are from the blends they inhabit. But before looking at the variables that conspire to produce such a diverse family, a brief reminder of the processes used in the creation of all malts might be helpful.
MALTING: Barley has to be partially germinated before it can release its fermentable sugars. It is soaked in water until it begins to sprout, then this is arrested by drying the grains over heat. This steeping and drying process is called malting. Traditionally, the Scots dried their malt over a peat fire, which gives Scotch its characteristic smokiness. A proportion of peat is still burned during malting.
MASHING: To complete the conversion of starch into fermentable sugars, the malt (which has been milled after malting) is mixed with warm water in a vessel called a mashtum. The liquid drained off, is known as wort.
FERMENTATION: The sugars in the wort are now turned into alcohol during fermentation, which takes place with the addition of yeast, in a fermentation vessel.
DISTILLATON: This is the boiling of the fermented wort, in a pot-still. Because alcohol boils more rapidly than water, the spirit is separated as a vapor and collected as it condenses back to alcohol.
MATURATION: All malts are matured in oak barrels, for a legal minimum of three years, though usually much longer.
A single malt is distilled in traditional vessels that resemble a copper kettle or pot. These are known as pot-stills. Most other types of whisky are made predominantly from other grains, in a more modern system: a continuous still, shaped like a column.
Much of the flavor of the malt is retained in pot distillation because this old fashioned system is inherently inefficient. A column system can distill more thoroughly, but makes for a less flavorfull spirit. Blended Scotch whiskeys contain a proportion of pot-still malt, leavened with continuous-still whisky made from cheaper, unmalted grains.
The pot-still is a vessel shaped by a coppersmith, and in no two distilleries is it identical. Some Scottish malt distilleries trace their history from the late 1700s, and many from the early and mid 1800s. Over the years, each distillery has been reluctant to change the shape of its stills. As they wear out, they are replaced by new ones of the same design. If the last still was dented, the distillery may get the same depression hammered into the new still.
The reason for this is that every variation in the shape of the still affects the character of the product. A small, squat still produces a heavy, oily, creamy spirit. In a large still, some of the vapors condense before they have left the vessel, fall back and are redistilled. This means that tall stills produce lighter, cleaner spirits.
Most malts are run through two linked pot-stills: the wash-still. In some Lowland distilleries, and in Ireland, a system of three pot-stills is used.
Links:
Scotch.com
Cutty Sark
Dewars Scotch Whiskey
Glenfiddich's Whisky Guide
J & B Scotch
Other Spirits:
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