Tag: speyside

Essential Single Malts

A guide to adding single malt Scotch to your home bar.

So you’ve got your home bar set up with all the basics. You’ve got all of the base spirits covered, including some whiskies for mixing. Maybe a bottle of Evan Williams or Jim Beam for bourbon cocktails. A decent inexpensive rye like Old Overholt. Maybe even Johnnie Walker Red Label or Dewar’s White Label to make up a Rob Roy in a pinch.

But now you’re looking to up your game. You have that friend or relative who’s a “serious” Scotch drinker. You want to add something nice that can be sipped neat. You want to add single malt Scotch to your home bar.

But where to begin? There are so many selections out there! Prices starting around $30, running up to hundreds. Thousands! Maybe you’ve tried a few. Maybe you’ve tried more than a few, and even have some favorites.

I thought about this, and decided to put togther a list, with a few basics requirements:
⦁ Provide a selection from each of the four most widely known Scotch regions (sorry, Cambeltown), each of which is representative of that region.
⦁ Keep prices reasonable, around $40 per bottle, so you can have a nice selection without spending the next mortgage payment.
⦁ By keeping prices reasonable, it also means you can introduce someone to Scotch without making them think “Gee, this is great. I wish I could afford to drink it at home.”
⦁ Be widely available. I don’t want to recommend something that you can’t find, nor do I want you to introduce your guests to something they can’t find.

For less than $200 (at least in my area), you can have a varied selection to please fans of everything from smoky Islay malts to sherried Speysides, as well as appeal to those new to the world of Scotch. For what it’s worth, here is my recommended “essential single malts”. While other expressions may come and go from my collection, these are the ones that will always sit on my bar, front and center.

Islay – Bowmore 12 Year Old – While this whisky offers the typical peat smoke flavor you would expect from an Islay, it is subdued, not overpowering, and balanced by a pleasant sweetness. It is not a “smoke bomb” like Laphroiag or Ardbeg. For someone looking to try Scotch and expecting it to be smoky, this is a great starting point. If you’re going to start with a single bottle, this is the one I would recommend.

Speyside – Glenlivet 12 Year Old (Glenfiddich 12 Year Old also works well) – These are probably the two most popular single malts worldwide. Both of these showcase the typical flavor profile of a whisky aged in sherry casks, and both should be available at almost any bar or liquor store. Both of these are a little over my $40 target price, but still under $50. Yes, there are Speysides under $40, but none do a better job of representing the region.

Highlands – Glenmorangie The Original (10 Year Old) – This was a tough one. There are so many options from this region, with such varied flavors. The “typical” Highland malt, however, is described as being light bodied and fruity. This core expression from Glenmorangie fits that description perfectly, with the distinctive citrus notes that run through all of their offerings.

Lowlands – Auchentoshan 12 Year Old – With most of the distilleries in the lowlands producing grain whisky, and much of that destined for blended Scotch, there aren’t too many choices for a Lowlands single malt. With Glenkinchie’s 12 Year Old coming in around $55-60, Auchentoshan is the winner by default to stay within my guidelines. The light body and earthy flavors are typical of the Lowlands.

You might be tempted to pick up the Auchentoshan American Wood for about $10 less. While it’s a good whisky for the price, it can be a little rough around the edges. In my opinion, it’s worth a few extra dollars to upgrade to the smoother, more approachable, 12 Year Old.

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What is Scotch?

What are the requirements for a whisky to be called Scotch? What are the different types and regions?

Scotch whisky, like Bourbon, is a specific type of whisky. Because it is commonly just called “Scotch”, it is sometimes thought of as a separate category, also like Bourbon. More than once, I’ve heard or read “I don’t drink whisky, I drink Scotch. Sorry to tell you, but if you’re drinking Scotch, you ARE drinking whisky.

However, although all Scotch is whisky, not all whisky is Scotch. In order to be called Scotch whisky, the following requirements must be met:
⦁ Must be distilled in Scotland from water, malted barley, and other whole cereal grains (the ingredients themselves do not need to come from Scotland).
⦁ Distilled to no higher than 94.8% ABV (alcohol by volume). ⦁ Aged in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years.
⦁ Can contain caramel coloring E150, but no other added colors or flavors. ⦁ Must be bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV.
⦁ If labeled with an age statement, it must indicate the youngest whisky included.
⦁ Labeling without an age statement is permitted. These are referred to as NAS (non age statement) whiskies.

It is a popular myth that all Scotch is smoky. I have even read that Scotch “must” be smoky, as if it were a requirement. This notion comes from the fact that traditionally, the heat to dry barley during the malting process was provided by burning peat, which is an abundant fuel source in Scotland. The smoke from this burning peat flavored the grain, and that flavor was still present in the finished product. Many distilleries still use peat smoke to impart that distinctive flavor, but many others use alternative heat sources to dry the grain and produce a whisky with no smoky taste.

In addition to these requirements, there are various sub-categories of Scotch. The most commonly known are single malt and blended, but there are actually 5 categories.
⦁ Single Malt Scotch must only contain malted barley (no other grains) and be produced at a single distillery. It can be, and usually is, a “blend” of multiple casks of various ages. Do not confuse Single Malt with Single Barrel, which is, as the name implies, from a single barrel.
⦁ Single Grain Scotch must come from a single distillery, but can contain other grains besides malted barley.
⦁ Blended Malt Scotch is a blend of different single malts from different distilleries.
⦁ Blended Grain Scotch is a blend of different single grains from different distilleries.
⦁ Blended Scotch is a blend of single malts and single grains from different distilleries.

As if that isn’t enough to remember, there are five official whisky producing regions within Scotland. These regions are mostly associated with single malt whiskies. Most blends contain whiskies from multiple regions, although occasionally you will see a blend from a single region.

Speyside – The largest whisky region in terms of number of distilleries and total production, and home to many of the best known single malt distilleries. Speyside whiskies are known for being full bodied and full flavored. Many are aged or “finished” in sherry casks, leading to a distinctive flavor profile. More on cask “finishes” in a later post. Speyside is located entirely within the highlands, and whisky produced in Speyside can legally be labelled as Highland whisky.

For a long time, I was under the misconception (as I think many are) that the Speyside region was defined as distilleries drawing their water from the River Spey and its tributaries. I learned recently that it is actually a geographical tax designation, defined by specific boundary lines and counties.

Highlands – The largest region geographically. Highland whiskies can vary widely in flavor profile, largely due to the size and diverse terrain of the region. Several smaller islands off the coast of Scotland’s mainland are home to distilleries. While some think these “island” distilleries should be a separate region, due to their unique characteristics, they are officially part of the Highlands – with one notable exception.

Islay – This single island is home to 8 active distilleries, and is considered its own region. Most Islay distilleries have continued the traditional use of peat. The region is known for its smoky whiskies, although there are some unpeated Islay whiskies as well. The S in Islay is silent, just like the S in island.

Lowlands – Most distilleries in the lowlands produce grain whisky, and much of that ends up in blends. The small number of lowland single malts are known for being light bodied and “approachable”.

Campbeltown – Ask many “experts” how many whisky regions Scotland has, and they will proudly say “four”, and proceed to list those above. There is a fifth official region, however. Campbeltown is located on the Kintyre peninsula in the southwest of Scotland, near Ireland. Legend holds that St. Patrick introduced distillation to Scotland by way of the Kintyre peninsula in the 5th century. At one time, Campbeltown was home to over 30 distilleries, and was known as the whisky capital of the world.

The few remaining single malts produced in Campbeltown are known for being full bodied and often “oily”. Like many coastal distilleries, they can have some salinity to them as well, as the salty air penetrates the casks over the many years that they spend aging in warehouses near the sea.

I know, that’s a lot of information. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! The truth is, this only scratches the surface, but it does cover the basics, and should help you get started. If you’d like to learn more, please be sure to subscribe!