Only plain water is added before it is bottled, and in the case of so-called 'cask strength'
bottlings not even that. There are bottlings with an alcohol-percentage of well over 60%
available! However, I couldn't really reccommend those to any beginner. But don't worry,
there are plenty of single malts that I can recommend - and I will in chapter 9.
But first there is a lot more 'single malt theory' I'd like to share with you...

To make things even more confusing, we have the odd
complete name change like An Cnoc becoming Knockdhu.
Or, even worse, Cardow single malt becoming Cardhu
single malt becoming Cardhu vatted malt (sold in the
same bottles as the single malt with just a few minor
adjustments on the label) becoming Cardhu single malt
again after a public outrage about this shady business.

Sometimes the name of a single malt is different from
the name of the distillery where the malt was produced.
Loch Lomond distillery, for example, used to bottle a
single malt whisky under the name Loch Lomond, but
also has 2 other 'brands' - Inchmurrin and Old Roshdu.
Other examples of a distillery (or its parent company)
releasing whiskies under different names are Tobermory
(producing Tobermory and Ledaig single malts) and the
generically named Speyside distillery that uses the
names Speyside, Drumguish and Glentromie for the
(fairly mediocre) whiskies they release. Sometimes
different names refer to differences in production
process (still type, peating level) but not always.

Finally, we have VATTED MALTS - i.e. malt whiskies from more than one distillery
which have been blended together to produce a consistent product that (hopefully)
still has a personality of its own. Although they usually seem to lack the personality
of a single malt, some of the available vatted malts offer very good value for money.
You can find some pretty decent vatted malts in the 20,- to 25,- Euro's price range.

My personal favourite 'type' of whisky is MALT WHISKY - produced from 100% malted
barley (fermented with yeast) and distilled in traditional 'pot stills'. No other grain product
or fermentable material is allowed. Finally, we have SINGLE MALT WHISKY - the product
from one single distillery, which has not been blended with whisky from any other distillery.

The less said about GRAIN WHISKY the better, if you ask me. It's made from a mash of cereal grains
(usually barley, wheat and maize). Both malted barley (barley which has started to germinate before it
was dried to stop the germination) and unmalted barley (barley which remains dormant) are used in the
production of grain whisky. Grain whisky is distilled in a continuous process, using so-called 'Coffey Stills'.
Unless casked and aged properly, the end result often resembles the revolting Dutch drink Jenever (gin).

A SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT (also known as a 'single-single') is about as exclusive as it gets.
It's the same as a normal single malt whisky, but all bottles are taken from one single cask of whisky.
When you realize that a (bourbon) barrel usually equalizes about 300 bottles of whisky, the drinking of a single-single malt like the Balvenie 15yo Single Barrel is quite a special experience. However, it can be risky business as well. Most 'official' single malt bottlings are VATTINGS (= blends) of different casks. Vatting various barrels and casks of whisky from the distillery together gives the master blender some control over the final product. The quality of individual casks can vary considerably from cask to cask, so unless other people have made recommendations about a specific single cask bottling you'll have no guarantee that the whisky will have the 'distillery profile' you expect. But that's part of the fun...

The character of a single malt is shaped by its environment, but I'll go deeper into geography in the next chapter.
Most single malt whiskies are distilled and matured in Scotland, but I've enjoyed some very decent single malts from Ireland, Japan, Germany and South-Africa as well. Some well-known Scotch single malts are Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie and Macallan. Thousands of different single malt Scotch whiskies are currently available in liquor-stores all over the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the native inhabitants
of Scotland don't speak Scotch. Their language is
called GAELIC and some single malts have names
that seem unpronounceable. The list of the major
tongue-breakers at the left may prevent possibe
humiliation at the counter of your local bar or liquorist.
But hey, let's not forget that these pages are just a 'Beginner's Guide' to SMSW. Maybe we shouldn't worry too much about how to order a single malt with style and sophistication, and focus on selecting the proper whisky first, eh?

So - I bet you feel a lot smarter already...  And that's just at the end of chapter 2 of the Beginner's Guide!
Just imagine how smart you'll feel at the end of the last chapter. Click on!

So, these were the different 'types' of whisky - are you starting to get confused yet?
Well, please hold on - as if things weren't confusing enough for the novices in maltland,
the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) proposed a whole new set of definitions in 2005.

In fact, let's not even do that - we're getting ahead of ourselves again.
This chapter deals with the 'vocabulary' and there is still a lot to learn.
Take the 'malt slang' in the column below, for example.

Pronunciation

More Malt Slang

Whisky Web / The Malt Whisky File
Liquid Log: My Amazing Discovery
E-pistle: Seven Steps to Malt Mania
E-pistle: 8 Beauties & 8 Beasts
Malt Madness Liquid Links

By far the most whiskies that go over the counter at your local liquorist
are BLENDED WHISKY - a 'blend' of roughly 2/3 grain whiskies combined
with about 1/3 malt whiskies from several different distilleries to form a drink
that applies to the tastes (and wallets) of as many people as possible. Blending
was introduced in the 19th century because many of the whiskies distilled in those days
had just a tad too much 'character' for the average whisky consumer. There may be 50 or more
different single malt and grain whiskies in a blend, allowing the blender to compose a fairly consistent
product that's not likely to offend too many people. Even if you've never tried them, you've surely heard
of brands like Johnnie Walker, Ballantine's, Bell's, Cutty Sark, Famous Grouse, J&B, William Lawson's, etc.

First of all: There are three main categories of Scotch whisky; malt whisky,
grain whisky and blended whisky. One of the characteristics that all three
of them share is the fact that they have matured for at least three years;
a minimum set by British law. Anything younger than 3 years isn't 'whisky'.

Most vatted malts are marketed under fantasy names like 'Glen Green', 'Strathglen' or 'Blairmhor'.
Vatted malts can be good, affordable alternatives for single malts, but they often lack character.
The text PURE MALT on a bottle of whisky means about as much as the text 'especially selected'
or 'checked and approved' - remarkably little indeed. All Scotch malt whiskies (whether they are
single or vatted) are pure malt whiskies, produced exclusively from malted barley using pot stills.
If a bottle contains any kind of grain whisky whatsoever, it is a blended whisky by definition.
When it says 'pure malt' instead of 'single malt' on the label, it's most likely a vatted malt.

Finally, a few words about AGE STATEMENTS.
Many independent bottlings (IB's, see chapter 6 for more) specify
an age statement in years, a year of distillation and a year of bottling.
Sometimes details like cask number and wood type are provided as well.
For example: Ardbeg 17yo 1974/1992 (43%, Signatory, Cask #2026).
Most official bottlings (OB's) only provide an age statement, like the
Ardbeg 17yo (40%, OB). These official bottlings are not 'single cask'
bottlings, but 'vattings' from many different casks of the same malt.
In these cases the age statement indicates the age of the youngest
whisky in the vatting. So, an age statement on an OB gives you the
minimum age - casks that are much older could end up in the bottle.
(On my Track Record, bottling years for OB's are often estimates.)

Knowing what these terms
and abbreviations mean will
come in very handy when you
venture deeper into this site
and the world of single malts.
So, learn them by heart...

That being said, I've sampled a few older grain whiskies that were simply amazing, like a Garnheath 1969 from Olivier Humbrecht and a few Invergordons in their thirties and fourties from independent bottlers like Berry Brothers, Duncan Taylor and Murray McDavid.
It would seem that all a grain whisky needs is time and the love of a good cask.