Scotland is almost synonymous with whisky (coming from uisge-beatha, meaning water of life or acqua vitae, and note the absence of the ‘e’ favoured by Irish distillers), particularly fine-quality whiskies.
The art of grain distillation spread to Scotland and Ireland hundreds of years ago and although it was once Ireland that had the best reputation for whisky, the 18th century saw a marked reduction in the number of distilleries in Ireland and an explosion in Scotland, paired with unprecedented experiments with aging, blending and more.
Today, Scotland has some 120 whisky distilleries (compared to Kentucky’s 73, Ireland’s 18, Japan’s eight and Wales’ two, soon to be three) with different regions of Scotland being famous for different expressions of Scotch whisky, a rich tradition of terroir comparable to that seen in France and its wines. With so many distilleries, it can be a little confusing to know what you’re looking for.
Single Malts, Blends and Aging
You’ll often hear the term single malt used in Scotch, particularly high-quality whiskies. These are whiskies produced at a single distillery using a pot still and a mash of malted barley. You also have single grain Scotch, which may use other malted or unmalted grains as well as water and malted barley. How the grains are prepared (such as whether they are heavily ‘peated’ or smoked) also enormously affect the taste, as does the water source.
The vast majority of Scotch whisky that is sold are blends, which is an art of itself, mixing different whiskies to find the desired qualities and this is something that Scotch whisky has historically excelled at.
A modest selection of Scotch whisky
All Scotch is also aged for at least three years and sometimes much longer, with the type of cask used for aging determining many of the characteristics of the whisky, from its taste to its appearance. Like with wines, oak can give vanilla or caramel notes, while sherry casks can lead to a sweeter, nuttier or dried fruit taste, madeira casks can result in notes of spice while bourbon casks can have sweet caramel notes.
Tasting
Tasting whisky can also be a complicated process but it needn’t be. To begin with, just take a look at it and note its colour – this can tell you how long it’s been aged (the lighter, the younger) as well as the type of wood it was stored in. Then hold the glass to the side and back again and see the little drops of whisky fall down inside the glass. The slower they fall, the higher the alcohol content. While you can then go ahead and just sniff your whisky, to overcome the sometimes powerful smell of the alcohol, you can just splash a bit on your hand, rub it in like a perfume and sniff.
Next comes the tasting. Is it dry, sweet, refreshing, spicy? What notes can you detect? You can then experiment and open up different flavours by adding a little water – this is very common in Scotland. Of course, many whisky snobs will frown at mixing Scotch or adding ice, but if you like it that way, then that’s fine too. The process of tasting is all about finding what you enjoy. That’s how blends came to be in the first place.
A whisky tasting
Scotch Whisky Regions
As mentioned above, different Scotch whiskies have different qualities and can help you decide what to drink based on your tastes. There are five different regions, in alphabetical order: Campeltown, Highland (including the unrecognised Islands sub-region), Islay, Lowland and Speyside.
Campeltown is a small coastal town on a peninsula in the west of Scotland, famous for its sea salt, fruity, toffee whiskies that evoke scenes of the sea. Glen Scotia is a famous Campeltown distillery.
Highland is a colossal region that covers almost the entirety of the north of Scotland, including the Islands, and as such it has massive diversity in its whiskies. While many are light, fruity and smooth, others are much heavier. Famous distilleries include Dalmore, Glenmorangie and Talisker.
Islay (pronounced eyeluh) is one of the most intriguing and unique Scotch regions, famous for its smoky, salt water and extremely peaty whiskies, the Scotch equivalent of blue cheese. This is our favourite, there’s nothing quite like it. Famous distilleries include Caol Ila, Ardbeg and Laphroaig.
Lowland is the second largest Scotch region, covering most of the centre and south of Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders. These tend to be light, floral and smooth, with a sweet finish, sometimes with gentle spice like ginger or cinnamon – the complete opposite to an Islay. Auchentoshan is probably the best-known distillery in this area.
Speyside gets its name from the River Spey, famous for its high-quality waters. These are famously fruity and Sherry cask-matured, with particular notes of pear, light spice and sweet honey. Notable Speyside distilleries include Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet and Dalwhinnie.
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