Whisky or Whiskey, can traditionally be divided into different geographical regions. From our Scotch, to Irish Whiskies, to Bourbon Whiskies, and to good ol’ Japanese Whiskies. It all essentially comes down to sourcing, mash content, aging process, and demographic regions.
Scotch can only be called Scotch if the whole manufacturing process of the drink was done in Scotland, and regulations have been made so that the liquid is matured for a minimum of 3 years. There are distilleries that choose to release official bottlings as well as sell off certain casks to independent bottlers. There are also distilleries that choose to only release official bottlings and even if casks were to be sold to independent bottlers, the distillery is not to be named. There are also some brands of scotch available that choose not to distill their own liquid, but instead purchase from a variety of distilleries to create a whole new blend.
For those who are interested in whisky, but are confused by labelling, The Whisky Shop Singapore is here to help! Confused by single malts, blended whiskies, single grains and the likes? We are here to help you tell the difference!
With whiskies, the word ‘single’ in its labelling does not mean that the liquid was made from just one malt, but that the liquid came from one distillery. This means that Single Malts are usually a blend of malts distilled in one distillery. The most common labellings are Single Cask, Single Malt, Single Grain, Blended Malt and Blended Whisky.
Single Cask: Bottled from the same cask from the same distillery
Single Malt: Bottled with whiskies made from malted barley and water at the same distillery.
Single Grain: Bottled with whiskies made from water, malted barley, and other malted or unmalted grains such as corn, wheat, rye at the same distillery.
Blended Malt: Bottled with a blend of malt whiskies from a mix of distilleries.
Blended Whisky: Bottled with a blend of both malt and grain whiskies from a mix of distilleries.
To help you have a clearer overview/summary, we have done up a table for you! We hope that the table helps you have a clearer idea of the labellings on your bottle of whisky!
“I'd much rather be someone's shot of whiskey than everyone's cup of tea.”
― Carrie Bradshaw
How Whisky is produced?
