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What to Look For
'There are no bad whiskies. There are just good whiskies and better whiskies.'
(Old Scots Saying)
Your chance to choose a bottle of
Single Cask Unchillfiltered Malt Whisky
from Glengoyne Distillery
There are three kinds of Scotch whisky: malt whisky, grain whisky and blended whisky. Grain whiskies are uncommon, only three brands are available: Cameron Brig, The Invergordon and Black Barrel (the latter only available in the U.S.A.).
Single Malt Whiskies
Most fall into this group. Each is the product of a single distillery, usually bottled at 40% alcohol by volume. Each bottling is a mixture of many casks, in order to achieve uniformity of flavour and colour, and if the label states the age of the whisky, the youngest used will be of that age. The region from which the whisky comes appears on the label, as do the words 'Single Malt Scotch Whisky'.
Vatted Malt Whiskies
These are a blend of malts from different distilleries (usually up to a maximum of six). The process marries and balances the characteristics of the individual malts, in order to create something wholly new and, ideally, better than the sum of its parts. Their labels describe them as 'Pure Malt Whisky' or 'Fine Old Malt Whisky'.
Single Cask Malt Whiskies
These are bottled from a single cask. Every cask matures the whisky it contains in a slightly different way, depending upon the nature of the cask and how many times it has been filled. Single cask whiskies allow connoisseurs to appreciate these subtle differences. Often such whiskies are bottled at 'cask strength' (i.e. at the strength it comes out of the cask - usually around 60% alcohol) and 'hand filtered only' (most whiskies are 'chill filtered' - i.e. reduced in temperature to near freezing on the bottling line, in order to ensure that it retains its clarity when water is added. The tiny particles this removes contributes to the whisky’s flavour).
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