Demystifying the

Single Malt Whisky Tasting

Malt Whisky
April 2009
Category
Single malt whisky can be confusing

Over 2,000 single malt whiskies on the market

What is single malt Scotch whisky?
 Scotch whisky is at least 1,000 years old

• Brought to Scotland by Irish monks

• In the 1500s, alcohol changed from

medicine to a social beverage

• Scottish government banned distilling in

1800s, leading to moonshine distillers

• In 1823 small still production was made

legal again & modern whisky making
began
 Whisky blending led to a global boom for Scotch

• In the 1800s Scots began to blend whiskies,

which consumers found much more palatable

• By the 20th century Scotch became a global

spirit

• The 21st century is now seeing a resurgence

of interest in single malt for it’s premium
quality and craftmanship
Single malt whisky is made from only three ingredients

Barley Yeast Water

Barley is malted to release starch

Barley is soaked & heated in a kiln,

known as ‘malting’.

This releases the starch from the

barley – like getting a sweet out of it’s
wrapper.

It is during malting that ‘peat’ is used

for certain distilleries, which gives a
unique smoky flavour.
Malted barley, water and yeast are combined together to ferment

Malted barley is milled to make a rough flour called ‘grist’.

This is then mashed with hot water to produce a sweet liquid called
‘wort’.

The wort is cooled and yeast is added. The mixtures ferments to make
a crude beer, known as ‘wash’.

Grist Mashing Fermentation

 The ‘wash’ is distilled twice to make spirit

The wash is boiled in copper pot stills, and

the resulting vapour is condensed to produce
spirit

There are two distillations: first in a wash still

and the second in a spirit still.

The shape, size and number of stills and how

the distillate is condensed can have an
important influence on the character and
flavour of the finished product.
Spirit must be matured for at least 3 years in oak casks to make
Scotch

Maturation accounts for a significant part

of the flavour of malt whisky.

American oak casks (ex-bourbon) produce

sweet vanilla & coconut notes, with a
lighter coloured spirit.
European oak casks (ex-sherry) produce
sweet & fruity notes, and a darker coloured
spirit.

Up to 2% of maturing stocks disappear

through evaporation each year – ‘the
angel’s share’
There are six main whisky making regions in Scotland
The key to understanding single malt whisky is flavour
The flavour map plots every single malt whisky according to its
flavour

Smoky
Y-Axis
Depends on the
complexity levels
and amount of peat
used in the malting
process which
gives the flavour its
smokiness

Light Rich
X-Axis
Depends on the ‘distillery characteristics’ – the shape of the stills, the
length of distillation, the type of oak used for maturation etc.

Delicate
The map shows how whiskies from the same region can sometimes
have very different flavours

Smoky

Ardbeg Caol Ila Lagavulin

Talisker
Highland
Park

Craggan-
Oban Mortlach
more
Light Rich
Royal Blair
Lochnagar Clynelish Athol Macallan
Glen-
kinchie
Glen-
morangie Bunnahab-
Glenfid-
hain
dich Auchen-
toshan

Delicate
Within the
Flavour Map,
experts have
identified four
key flavour
styles:
Light & Floral
Fruity & Spicy
Rich &
Rounded
Full-bodied &
Smoky
Light & Floral Tasting – Glenkinchie 12 Year Old
Fruity & Spicy – Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old
Rich & Rounded – The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old
Full-bodied & Smoky – Talisker 10 Year Old
I hope you continue to explore & enjoy the world of flavours in single
malt whisky
www.malts.com