I understand that the 'madness' on these pages can be confusing, especially since
the old sitemap got lost during an attempt to 'cannibalize' some of these old pages.
Please allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Johannes van den Heuvel and
I discovered single malts in 1991. These pages tell the tale of my amazing discovery.
Actually, a complete personal introduction about yours truly may seem like a bit much considering the fact
that some 24 other 'certified malt maniacs' contributed a lot of their time and effort to these pages as well.
Rest assured that we'll get to them in the credentials section later on; for the moment I'd like to focus on
a general introduction about the history of this website and my personal objectives for publishing the site.
Just click here to read the brief personal introduction to the site or scroll down for other related topics.
One of the first sections of the original 'Malt Madness' website I ever published was a
very basic 'Beginner's Guide' to single malt whisky. Since the basic difference between
blended whisky like Johnnie Walker Red Label and single malt whisky like Glenfiddich or
Laphroaig still isn't 'household knowledge' I will incorporate a brand new version of the
guide in the new version of Malt Madness. However, that will take some time to finish,
so please study the material from the old 'Beginner's Guide' until the new one is done.
The information in the guide is divided across these 10 easily digestible chapters;
I should be getting on with my
Liquid Log, but I feel there's one more item I should get
to during this guided tour of the archives first; the Track Record of all my tastings I kept
between 1997 and 2006. It offers an alphabetical overview of more than 2000 whiskies
(Scotch and Irish whiskies as well as the so-called Deviant Drams from other continents)
that I've manage to sample and score during 'a decade of heavy dramming'. That makes
this the page to start if you're looking for my score or impressions on a certain whisky.
My Liquid Log is a chronological record of my quest to find the perfect single malt.
The log evolved into a Liquid Blog
in 2005, but not long afterwards I felt that it was
time for me to start distributing our information and opinions more 'interactively' from
now on. You can find more information about that on the new Malt Madness website.
Here you can find tasting notes and general observations about single malts and life
in general from 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
By using the arrows at the top of every page you can move back & forth in time...
There's not much else in this section, I guess - unless you count the selection of testimonials that various
visitors to the Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs websites have left in my inbox during the first decade after
the first few pages were published. Those enthusiastic testimonials were in part responsible for our decision
to try and come up with three even better sites after a decade of heavy dramming between 1997 and 2006.
If you stumbled accross this site by accident you may not have been properly introduced to 'the water of life'.
That is something this Beginner's Guide will rectify. The guide is aimed mainly at visitors who have little or no experience
with single malt Scotch whisky. Apart from general background information about whisky the Beginner's Guide offers details about the history, distillation and maturation of whisky (single malt whisky and other varieties) trivia, hints, tasting tips and tricks.
What? Not interested? No problem, just browse onwards to...
- Chapter 1: Fundamentals
- Chapter 2: Vocabulary
-
Chapter 3: Geography
- Chapter 4: Distillation
-
Chapter 5: Maturation
-
Chapter 6: Bottling
- Chapter 7: Shopping
- Chapter 8: Enjoyment
- Chapter 9: Practice
-
Chapter 10: Conclusion
So, what exactly is single malt Scotch whisky?
Terminology and pronunciation and stuff
The malt regions of Scotland; Lowlands to Highlands
The process begins with barley and ends with 'spirit'
All fresh spirit needs to evolve into real whisky is time
At some point the distilled whisky is ready for bottling
How to spend your hard earned cash wisely on whisky
About glassware, water and other pesky little details
And then it's time to actually pour yourself a dram
Some final words of whisky wit and wisdom
Please note that my Track Record itself (both the main page
with the A-G distilleries in
Scotland and the second page with all the H-Z distilleries) only contains my notes for
single malt whiskies from Scotland. I've added a seperate
Deviant Drams section to the
Track Record, dealing with other alcoholic beverages. It features drinks that are not:
1) Scotch, 2) single, 3) malt and 4) whisky. So that would also include stuff like blends,
bourbons, grain whisky, vatted malt whiskies, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, etc.
January 1, 1997 was the day I started my quest to find 'the perfect single malt'.
I had actually discovered single malt Scotch whiskies a couple of years before, in 1991.
Although my malt madness grew more serious over the years I didn't start taking notes
until the very end of 1996. Soon after I started writing my Liquid Log
in 1997 I started
to regret my former laziness - as my condition grew more serious, so did my research.
Because I hadn't collected any data before 1997, all that was left of my experiences
after six years of dramming were some wonderful but vague memories and a huge pile
of empty bottles. So even though I had a lot of fun, my recreational dramming didn't
serve the progress of mankind or anything. To make sure all future tasting experiences
during my mission would serve a higher purpose I decided to document them properly.
You'll also notice that all whiskies in my Track Record have been scored on a 1 - 100
scale. The typical score for the typical single malt whisky varies from 50 to 90 points.
Needless to say, I'd rather drink a whisky that scores 90 points than one that scores
a measly 50 points - but then again it's all a matter of personal preference, I imagine.
You might think that writing over 300 different log entries about whisky has kept me pretty busy between 1997 and 2006,
but that's actually just the tip of the iceberg. Still to come before we shift our attention to the opinions of other people:
the Malt Madness mAlmanac
and the Distillery Profiles for more than 100 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland...
Anyway, all you need to remember for now is that my Track Record
gives you direct access to my tasting notes for the +/- 2000 different whiskies I've sampled between 1997 and 2006. Those notes are not included in the Track Record itself, but recorded in either my Liquid Log or
the first twenty issues of Malt Maniacs
- located elsewhere within the ADHD section. Feel free to start browsing through the Liquid Log or the old issues of Malt Maniacs on your own - just make sure to reserve a few weeks...
Oh yeah, one more thing I almost forgot: I'm already working on a hotter and fresher introduction for the new site...
The Distillery Data section offers distillery profiles on the following distilleries in Scotland; And that's where the 'distillery data' section stops - for now....
Aberfeldy - Aberlour - Allt A'bhainne - An Cnoc - Ardbeg - Ardmore - Arran - Auchentoshan - Auchroisk - Aultmore
Balblair - Balmenach -
Balvenie - Banff - Ben Nevis - Benriach - Benrinnes - Benromach - Bladnoch - Blair Athol
Bowmore - Brackla (Royal) - Braes of Glenlivet (Braeval) - Brechin - Brora - Bruichladdich - Bunnahabhain - Caol Ila
Caperdonich - Cardhu - Clynelish - Coleburn - Convalmore - Cragganmore - Craigellachie - Dailuaine -
Dallas Dhu
Dalmore -
Dalwhinnie - Deanston - Dufftown - Dunglass - Edradour -
(Old) Fettercairn - Glen Albyn - Glenallachie
Glenburgie - Glencadam - Glencraig - Glen Deveron - Glendronach - Glendullan - Glen Elgin - Glenesk - Glenfarclas
Glenfiddich - Glen Flagler - Glen Garioch - Glenglassaugh - Glengoyne - ....
I plan to pick it up again when
While I was working on this page it suddenly dawned on me that my time would actually be
far better spent working on the new websites... So, I decided to wrap up this guided tour a
little sooner than I had originally planned with a few words on our brainchild 'malt maniacs'.
That's the name of the sub-site for our international collective of 24 'committed' maltheads
that we started in 2002 - although the first contributions started to drop in as early as 1998.
And that's not all, the 'Distillery Data' section also offers an interactive Malt Map of
Scotland that provides a look at single malt whisky from a geographical perspective.
Just move your cursor over the whisky regions of Scotland to get an instant overview
of all active distilleries in the region, not to mention quite a few inactive ones as well.
With the map, you can locate neighboring distilleries and test the 'terroir' theory.
Isn't it amazing what you can do with a simple household computer these days?
In December 2003 we published the results of the very first edition of the Malt Maniacs Awards. It was a big success, so we had ourselves another competition in 2004 and 2005. Here's an overview of all
the winners so far; - Check out the individual pages for the
-
2005 Awards Winners
- 2004 Awards Winners
- 2003 Awards Winners
- All gold medal winners so far
- All silver medal winners so far
-
All bronze medal winners so far
The concept of the Malt Maniacs Matrix is very simple; a collection of over 1000 single malts on one end and the scores that a dozen different malt maniacs gave them on the other. This way, you will be able to check the opinions of several maniacs about a single malt at a glance. Despite its simplicity the matrix provides a useful frame of reference to compare your own preferences to those of other people. And once you found one or more maniacs with similar tastes you can use their scores as pointers to new discoveries.
The 'Credentials' page offers an overview of all 24 certified malt maniacs. Each maniac has
his (or her) own 'Personal Profile' as well - a separate page with more background information.
The profiles contain some 'essential credentials' like a brief introduction, a Top 10, etc. Each
profile also shows an overview of all single malts sampled and all E-pistles written by that maniac.
All contributions from 'uncertified maniacs' are listed on the Foreign Correspondents page.
Hit List - A selection of the best single malts I've sampled, ranked from best to worst.
I use the phrases 'best' and 'worst' according to my own personal standards, of course.
My opinion is just that: an opinion. Nevertheless, you may find that your tastes are not
dissimilar to mine, in which case it could be useful to hunt down some favourits of mine.
I discovered single malt whisky in 1991, but it took me half a decade before I started
sharing notes and opinions on-line. While my Liquid Log was slowly filling up more and
more raw data became available for me to play with. It wasn't long before I decided
to unleash the crazy scientist in me by adding this mAlmanac to the MM site in 1997.
When I constructed this 'ADHD' archive the mAlmanac contains these four 'lists'...
Shit List - Well, the name speaks for itself, doesn't it?
The 'Shit List' (pardon my French) is a short list of the single malts I just didn't like.
There are plenty of 'other' types of whisky (blends, vatted malts, etc.) as well as other
alcoholic beverages (vodka, gin, etc.) I don't care for, but my comments on these drinks
are reserved for the 'Deviant Drams' section. The personal scores I've added to Hit List
and Shit List should give you a pretty good idea how I personally feel about that whisky.
Bang-For-Your-Buck List - Do I want to pay as little as possible because I'm Dutch?
Probably not. That's why I took a long hard look at my Hit List and played around a little bit with my pocket calculator.
The results of my thoughts & calculations explain why I rarely invest my money in the bottles at the very top of my Hit List;
they simply are too expensive. Fortunately, I've managed to compile a list of whiskies that actually offer good value for money.
Stock List - My life hasn't been the same since my amazing discovery of single malt Scotch whisky.
For one thing, I've had to find room for my slowly expanding collection of bottles. Apart from a 'drinking collection' of 36 opened
bottles I've assembled a 'reserve stock' of unopened bottles to be enjoyed some time in the future. I've even been able to build
a small 'trading stock' of bottles I may be able to swap for something else some day - if I don't drink them first, that is...
The main page of this section offers an overview of all active distilleries in Scotland
with basic statistics like the year the distillery was founded, status of the distillery,
ownership, region, active period, number of different expressions I've sampled. etc.
There are seperate pages about
silent distilleries &
new distillery projects as well.
The 'overview' page provides some generic information on all distilleries in Scotland
and links to
distillery profiles in this site section, but the Lex-icon on Malt Maniacs
offers an overview of all malt whisky distilleries in the whole world by Lex Kraaijeveld.
Interestingly enough, there are still more malt (!) whisky distilleries in Scotland than
in the rest of the world combined. However, the balance might tip in the future with
closures in Scotland and new initiatives elsewhere - things are always on the move.
You can access all issues of our E-zine we've published so far through the ARCHIVE section
of the old malt maniacs section, but I'll add some direct links to our first 18 issues below.
- Malt Maniacs #00 - 1998 - 2001 (Several years worth of e-mail correspondence)
- Malt Maniacs #01 - January 1, 2002
- Malt Maniacs #02
- April 1, 2002
- Malt Maniacs #03 - July 1, 2002
- Malt Maniacs #04 - October 1, 2002
- Malt Maniacs #05 - February 1, 2003
- Malt Maniacs #06 - April 1, 2003
- Malt Maniacs #07
- September 1, 2003
- Malt Maniacs #08 - December 1, 2003
- Malt Maniacs #09
- March 1, 2004
- Malt Maniacs #10 - June 1, 2004
- Malt Maniacs #11 - October 15, 2004
-
Malt Maniacs #12 - January 15, 2005
- Malt Maniacs #13 - February 1, 2005
- Malt Maniacs #14
- April 1, 2005
- Malt Maniacs #15 - July 1, 2005
- Malt Maniacs #16 - September 1, 2005
-
Malt Maniacs #17 - February 1, 2006
- Malt Maniacs #18 - July 1, 2006
And that's about it for this guided tour.
Please enjoy the pages of the old website while I work on the new one....
