Musts

Single-Malt scotches are twice distilled in copper pot stills. Afterwards it is aged in oak-casks1 for, at minimum, 3 years. 2

They must be produced by only one distillery, but can be a blend of distillates aged for different numbers of years.

If the label of a bottle has an age statement (ex. 12-year) that is the youngest whisky in the blend.

Flavors

Rich aromas, velvety texture, and extremely varied and complex flavor profiles.

Characterful Spirits Flavors:

  • Cereal
  • Fruits
  • Flowers
  • Honey
  • Fruit cake
  • Sweet Spices

Sometimes smokey flavor

The smokey flavor comes from burning peat. Peat is burned when the Grains are heated the end of the the malting process. The smoke created flavors the grains.

Note: Only a few Single Malt Scotches have a peat flavor and in some of these, that smoky peat flavor is pronounced.

Styles

Scotch is further separated into several regions. The 5 regions:

Footnotes

  1. Mostly oak barrels that were used to age wine or other spirits. Ex-bourban barrels are the most common while ex-sherry casks are used often as well. ↩

  2. Typically aged for 10-15 years. ↩