Scotch whisky, often simply called Scotch, is malt whisky or grain whisky made in Scotland.
Scotch whisky must be made in a manner specified by law.
All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distilleries began
introducing whisky made from wheat and rye in the late 18th century. Scotch whisky is
divided into five distinct categories: single malt Scotch whisky, single grain Scotch whisky,
blended malt Scotch whisky, blended grain Scotch whisky, and blended Scotch whisky.
All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Any age statement
on a bottle of Scotch whisky, expressed in numerical form, must reflect the age of the
youngest whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as
guaranteed-age whisky. The first written mention of Scotch whisky
is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1495. A friar named John Cor was the distiller at
Lindores Abbey in the Kingdom of Fife. Many Scotch whisky drinkers will refer to
a unit for drinking as a dram.
Regulations and labelling Legal definition
As of 23 November 2009, the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 define and regulate the production,
labelling, packaging as well as the advertising of Scotch whisky in the United Kingdom. They
replace previous regulations that focused solely on production. International trade
agreements have the effect of making some provisions of the SWR apply in various other
countries as well as in the UK. The SWR define "Scotch whisky" as whisky that is:
Produced at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley all of which have
been: Processed at that distillery into a mash
Converted at that distillery to a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems
Fermented at that distillery only by adding yeast
Distilled at an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 94.8%
Wholly matured in an excise warehouse in Scotland in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700
litres for at least three years Retaining the colour, aroma, and taste of
the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production and maturation
Containing no added substances, other than water and plain caramel colouring
Comprising a minimum alcoholic strength by volume of 40%
Labelling A Scotch whisky label comprises several elements
that indicate aspects of production, age, bottling, and ownership. Some of these elements
are regulated by the SWR, and some reflect tradition and marketing. The spelling of the
term "whisky" is often debated by journalists and consumers. Scottish, Australian and Canadian
whiskies use "whisky", Irish whiskies use "whiskey", while American and other styles
vary in their spelling of the term. The label always features a declaration of
the malt or grain whiskies used. A single malt Scotch whisky is one that is entirely
produced from malt in one distillery. One may also encounter the term "single cask",
signifying the bottling comes entirely from one cask. The term "blended malt" signifies
that single malt whisky from different distilleries are blended in the bottle. The Cardhu distillery
also began using the term "pure malt" for the same purpose, causing a controversy in
the process over clarity in labelling – the Glenfiddich distillery was using the term
to describe some single malt bottlings. As a result, the Scotch Whisky Association declared
that a mixture of single malt whiskies must be labelled a "blended malt". The use of the
former terms "vatted malt" and "pure malt" is prohibited. The term "blended malt" is
still debated, as some bottlers maintain that consumers confuse the term with "blended Scotch
whisky", which contains some proportion of grain whisky.
The brand name featured on the label is usually the same as the distillery name. Indeed, the
SWR prohibit bottlers from using a distillery name when the whisky was not made there. A
bottler name may also be listed, sometimes independent of the distillery. In addition
to requiring that Scotch whisky be distilled in Scotland, the SWR require that it also
be bottled and labeled in Scotland. Labels may also indicate the region of the distillery.
Alcoholic strength is expressed on the label with "Alcohol By Volume" or sometimes simply
"Vol". Typically, bottled whisky is between 40% and 46% ABV. Whisky is considerably stronger
when first emerging from the cask—normally 60–63% ABV. Water is then added to create
the desired bottling strength. If the whisky is not diluted before bottling, it can be
labelled as cask strength. A whisky's age may be listed on the bottle
providing a guarantee of the youngest whisky used. An age statement on the bottle, in the
form of a number, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky used to produce that product.
A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed age whisky. Scotch whisky without
an age statement may, by law, be as young as three years old. In the early 21st century,
such "No age statement" whiskies became more common, as distilleries responded to the depletion
of aged stocks caused by improved sales. A label may carry a distillation date or a bottling
date. Whisky does not mature once bottled, so if no age statement is provided, one may
calculate the age of the whisky if both the distillation date and bottling date are given.
Labels may also carry various declarations of filtration techniques or final maturation
processes. A Scotch whisky labelled as "natural" or "non-chill-filtered" has not been through
a filtration process during bottling that removes compounds that some consumers see
as desirable. Some whiskies are placed in different casks—often sherry or port casks—during
a portion of maturation. Since this takes place at the end of the maturation process,
these whiskies may be labelled as "wood finished", "sherry/port finished", and so on.
Types
There are two basic types of Scotch whisky, from which all blends are made:
Single malt Scotch whisky means a Scotch whisky produced from only water and malted barley
at a single distillery by batch distillation in pot stills.
Single grain Scotch whisky means a Scotch whisky distilled at a single distillery but,
in addition to water and malted barley, may involve whole grains of other malted or unmalted
cereals. "Single grain" does not mean that only a single type of grain was used to produce
the whisky—rather, the adjective "single" refers only to the use of a single distillery.
Excluded from the definition of “single grain Scotch whisky” is any spirit that
qualifies as a single malt Scotch whisky or as a blended Scotch whisky. The latter exclusion
is to ensure that a blended Scotch whisky produced from single malt(s) and single grain(s)
distilled at the same distillery does not also qualify as single grain Scotch whisky.
Three types of blends are defined for Scotch whisky:
Blended malt Scotch whisky means a blend of two or more single malt Scotch whiskies from
different distilleries. Blended grain Scotch whisky means a blend
of two or more single grain Scotch whiskies from different distilleries.
Blended Scotch whisky means a blend of one or more single malt Scotch whiskies with one
or more single grain Scotch whiskies. The five Scotch whisky definitions are structured
in such a way that the categories are mutually exclusive. The 2009 regulations changed the
formal definition of blended Scotch whisky to achieve this result, but in a way that
reflected traditional and current practice: before the 2009 SWR, any combination of Scotch
whiskies qualified as a blended Scotch whisky, including for example a blend of single malt
Scotch whiskies. As was the case under the Scotch Whisky Act
1988, regulation 5 of the SWR 2009 stipulates that the only whisky that may be manufactured
in Scotland is Scotch whisky. The definition of manufacture is "keeping for the purpose
of maturation; and keeping, or using, for the purpose of blending, except for domestic
blending for domestic consumption." This provision prevents the existence of two ‘grades’
of whisky originating from Scotland, one “Scotch whisky” and the other, a “whisky –
product of Scotland” that complies with the generic EU standard for whisky. According
to the Scotch Whisky Association, allowing non-Scotch whisky production in Scotland would
make it difficult to protect Scotch whisky as a distinctive product.
Single grain The majority of grain whisky produced in Scotland
goes to make blended Scotch whisky. The average blended whisky is 60%–85% grain whisky.
Some higher-quality grain whisky from a single distillery is bottled as single grain whisky.
Blended malt Blended malt whisky—formerly called vatted
malt or pure malt—is one of the least common types of Scotch: a blend of single malts from
more than one distillery. Blended malts contain only malt whiskies—no grain whiskies—and
are usually distinguished from other types of whisky by the absence of the word 'single'
before 'malt' on the bottle, and the absence of a distillery name. The age of the vat is
that of the youngest of the original ingredients. For example, a blended malt marked "8 years
old" may include older whiskies, with the youngest constituent being eight years old.
Johnnie Walker Green Label and Monkey Shoulder are examples of blended malt whisky. Starting
from November 2011 no Scotch whisky could be labelled as a vatted malt or pure malt,
the SWR requiring them to be labelled blended malt instead.
Blended Blended Scotch whisky constitutes about 90%
of the whisky produced in Scotland. Blended Scotch whiskies contain both malt whisky and
grain whisky. Producers combine the various malts and grain whiskies to produce a consistent
brand style. Notable blended Scotch whisky brands include Bells, Dewar's, Johnnie Walker,
Whyte and Mackay, Cutty Sark, J&B, The Famous Grouse, Ballantine's and Chivas Regal.
Independent bottlers
Most malt distilleries sell a significant amount of whisky by the cask for blending,
and sometimes to private buyers as well. Whisky from such casks is sometimes bottled as a
single malt by independent bottling firms such as Duncan Taylor, Master of Malt, Gordon
& MacPhail, Cadenhead's, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Murray McDavid, Berry Brothers & Rudd,
Douglas Laing, and others. These are usually labelled with the distillery's name, but not
using the distillery's trademarked logos or typefaces. An "official bottling", by comparison,
is from the distillery. Many independent bottlings are from single casks, and they may sometimes
be very different from an official bottling. For a variety of reasons, some independent
brands do not identify which facility distilled the whisky in the bottle. They may instead
identify only the general geographical area of the source, or they simply market the product
using their own brand name without identifying their source. This may, in some cases, be
simply to give the independent bottling company the flexibility to purchase from multiple
distillers without changing their labels. History
To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae, VIII bolls of malt.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, Scotch whisky evolved from a Scottish drink
called uisge beatha, which means "lively water" or "water of life". The earliest record of
distillation in Scotland occurred as long ago as 1494, as documented in the Exchequer
Rolls, which were records of royal income and expenditure. The quote above records eight
bolls of malt given to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae over the previous year.
This would be enough for 1,500 bottles, which suggests that distillation was well-established
by the late 15th century. Whisky production was first taxed in 1644,
causing a rise in illicit whisky distilling in the country. Around 1780, there were about
eight legal distilleries and 400 illegal ones. In 1823, Parliament eased restrictions on
licensed distilleries with the "Excise Act", while at the same time making it harder for
the illegal stills to operate, thereby ushering in the modern era of Scotch production. Two
events helped to increase whisky's popularity: first, the introduction in 1831 of the column
still; the whisky produced with this process was generally less expensive to produce and
also less intense and smoother, because a column still can perform the equivalent of
multiple distillation steps in a continuous distillation process. Second, the phylloxera
bug destroyed wine and cognac production in France in 1880.
Regions
Scotland was traditionally divided into four regions: The Highlands, Lowland, Islay, and
Campbeltown. Speyside, encompassing the Spey river valley
in north-east Scotland, once considered part of the Highlands, has almost half of the total
number of distilleries in Scotland within its geographic boundaries; consequently it
is officially recognized as a distinct region. The Islands is not recognised as a region
by the Scotch Whisky Association and is considered part of the Highlands region.
Lowland — only three distilleries remain in operation: Auchentoshan, Bladnoch, and
Glenkinchie and one more Daftmill that is currently pending its first release.
Speyside — has the largest number of distilleries, which includes: Aberlour, Balvenie, Cardhu,
Cragganmore, Glenfarclas, Glenglassaugh, Glenfiddich, Speyburn, The Macallan, The Glenlivet, and
The Glenrothes. Highland — some Highland distilleries:
Aberfeldy, Balblair, Ben Nevis, Dalmore, Dalwhinnie, Glen Ord, Glenmorangie, Oban, and Old Pulteney.
The Islands, an unrecognised sub-region includes all of the whisky-producing islands: Arran,
Jura, Mull, Orkney and Skye — with their respective distilleries: Arran, Jura, Tobermory,
Highland Park and Scapa, and Talisker.
Campbeltown, once home to over 30 distilleries, currently has only three distilleries operating:
Glen Scotia, Glengyle and Springbank. Islay — has eight producing distilleries:
Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin and Laphroaig.
Although only five regions are specifically described, any Scottish locale may be used
to describe a whisky if it is distilled entirely within that place; for example a single malt
whisky distilled on Orkney could be described as Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky instead
of as a Highland whisky. See also
List of whisky brands List of whisky distilleries in Scotland
References Notes
Cited sources Bender, David A. A Dictionary of Food and
Nutrition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860961-2.
Hansell, John. "What Does a Whisky's Age Really Mean?". Whisky Advocate. Retrieved 17 March
2012. MacLean, Charles. Whiskypedia: A Compendium
of Scottish Whisky. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61608-076-1. MacLean, Charles, ed.. World Whiskey: A Nation-by-Nation
Guide to the Best. DK Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7566-5443-6. Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson's Complete
Guide to Single Malt Scotch. DK Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7566-5898-4.
The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009: Guidance for Producers and Bottlers. Scotch Whisky
Association. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
"The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009". UK Parliament. 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
Other sources Broom, Dave. Whiskey – A Connoisseur's
Guide. London. Carleton Books Limited. ISBN 1-85868-706-3
Broom, Dave. Handbook of Whisky. London. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-59846-2
Erskine, Kevin. The Instant Expert's Guide to Single Malt Scotch – Second Edition.
Richmond, VA. Doceon Press. ISBN 0-9771991-1-8 MacLean, Charles Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History.
Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 1-84403-078-4 Wishart, David. Whisky Classified – Second
Edition. London. Pavilion Books. ISBN 1-86205-716-8 Further reading
Henley, Jon. "How the world fell in love with [Scotch] whisky". The Guardian. Retrieved
22 March 2014. External links
Scotch Whisky Association Distillery Pronunciation Guide
Scotch whisky at DMOZ