Whisky Knowledge

The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SWR) came into force on 23 November 2011 providing new definitions of Categories of Scotch Whisky and the labelling. For a simple explanation of the changes, click here:

A “blended” whisky is a whisky that has been produced from a combination of malt and grain whisky. Blends will typically include a much larger proportion of grain whisky than malt (70/30) but different brands contain different proportions. A blended whisky contains anything from 15 to 50 different malt whiskies.

A “blended malt” whisky is a scotch whisky which is made up from a combination of single malt whiskies. This should not be confused with blended scotch whisky above which is a blend of malt and grain whiskies. This type of whisky has also been known in the past as a “vatted malt” or “pure malt.”

A whisky that is un-chill filtered (ucf) has not been through a filter to remove fats which have come out of solution during the process of diluting cask strengths whisky at the bottling stage.

There are approximately 100 distilleries in Scotland, the largest number in the world and 90% of single malt whisky is Scottish. Scotch Whisky Regions: slightly different regions are designated by different people, but they tend to focus on the following six: Highlands, Lowland, Islay, Island, Speyside, Cambeltown

The age statement on a label of scotch whisky refers to the youngest element of spirit in the bottle. Therefore, if the whisky is a blend of different whiskies, or even a single malt produced from a mixture of different casks, if the label states 10 years old, all the whisky in the bottle will be at least 10 years old.

Water or no water? A drop or two of spring water added to whisky, especially cask strengths ones, can ‘open up’ the flavours and smells of a good whisky. The trick is not to add too much – one drop at a time. Most experienced whisky drinkers won’t add ice however, as the drop in temperature closes down the flavor.

The scotch whisky industry will re-use casks up to three or four times, depending on the condition of the casks and the number of years they have been used for maturation. Casks which are re-used are known as “refill casks.”

The top export market by volume for scotch whisky in 2005 was France.
The top export market by value for scotch whisky in 2005 was the USA.
The top selling “blended” scotch whisky brand worldwide in 2004 was Johnnie Walker Red Label.
The top selling “single malt” scotch whisky brand worldwide in 2004 was Glenfiddich.

“Single malt” whisky is a whisky that is based on malted barley, has been distilled utilising a Potstill based process and is the product of spirit distilled at one single malt distillery, although usually multiple casks. Usually distilled twice. There are more than 5000 known types of Single Malt Whisky.

A “grain” scotch whisky is a whisky that is based on a combination of malted barley and unmalted barley, wheat or maize together with yeast or water. It is produced utilising a continuous distillation. There are some fantastic grain whiskies!