A must-have book for anyone who wants to know everything about single malt Scotch whisky

Transcription

1 A must-have book for anyone who wants to know everything about single malt Scotch whisky Information about all the distilleries and the whisky they make Learn how to taste and appreciate single malt Scotch Whisky

2 T h e S m a r t G u i d e t o Single Malt Scotch Whisky B y E l i z a b e t h R i l e y B e l l I l l u s t r at i o n s b y T e d H a r r i s o n

3 The Smart Guide To Single Malt Scotch Whisky Published by Smart Guide Publications, Inc Deer Chase Drive Norman, OK Copyright 2012 by Elizabeth Riley Bell. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, illustrations and icons may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book. For information, address: Smart Guide Publications, Inc Deer Creek Drive, Norman, OK SMART GUIDE and Design are registered trademarks licensed to Smart Guide Publications, Inc. International Standard Book Number: Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: Printed in the United States of America Cover design: Lorna Llewellyn Copy Editor: Ruth Strother Back cover design: Joel Friedlander, Eric Gelb, Deon Seifert Back cover copy: Eric Gelb, Deon Seifert Illustrations: Ted Harrison Production: Zoë Lonergan Indexer: Cory Emberson V.P./Business Manager: Cathy Barker

4 A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s At a time when fewer people are doing more work, the people in the whisky industry made time to talk to me and show me their distilleries. For many it was one more thing to do, but they all shared their knowledge and their experience and did it with grace and generosity. Often, they passed me along to other people, who added to my store of information. To all I am deeply grateful. Bobby Anderson (Speyburn), Russell Anderson (Highland Park), Raymond Armstrong (Bladnoch), Rachel Barrie (Glenmorangie), Iain Baxter (Inverhouse),Wendy Bennett (Macduff), Jim Beveridge (Diageo), Faye Black (Arran), John Black (Tullibardine), Stephen Bremner, (Tomatin),Tom Bringhurst (SWRI), Jennifer Brophy (Chivas Brothers), Carol Brown (Edrington Group), Andrew Brown (Bunnahabhain), Gordon Bruce (Knockdhu), Stewart Buchanan (BenRiach), Neil Cameron (Glenturret), Gregor Cattanach (Diageo), Ian Chapman (Gordon & MacPhail), Stewart Christine (Royal Brackla), Willie Cochrane (Jura), Graham Coull (Glen Moray), David Cox (Macallan), Ronnie Cox (Glenrothes), William Crilly (Macallan), Keith Cruickshank (Benromach), Peter Currie (Springbank), Francis Cuthbert (Daftmill), Katherine Crisp (Burn Stewart), Diane Dickson, David Doig (Fettercairn, Tamnavulin), Tim Dumenil (Diageo), Anne and Alan Duncan, Kirsty Duncan (Glen Garioch), Olivier Fagnen (SWRI), Douglas Fitchett (Glencadam), Robert Fleming (Tomintoul), Richard Forsyth (Forsyths), Callum Fraser (Deanston), Claire Fraser (Clynelish), Robert Fullarton (Craigellachie), John Glass (Ian Macleod), Jonathan Goldstein (Park Avenue Liquor Shop), Yvonne Granger (Glengoyne), George Grant (Glenfarclas), Kenny Grant (Glen Garioch), Lorraine Grant (Boort Malt), Martin Green (Bonhams), Veronica Gunn, Anna Hall (Glenmorangie), Jill Inglis (Whyte & Mackay), Kai Ivalo (SMWS), Frances Jack (SWRI), Campbell Laing (Arran), Fred Laing (Douglas Laing), Gary Lawton (Boortmalt), Catriona Legg (Diageo), Robert Lincoln (Ailsa Bay), Alistair Longwell (Ardmore), Ed MacAffer (Bowmore), Lillian MacArthur (Bunnahabhain), John MacDonald (Balblair), Polly Macdonald (Glen Spey, Benrinnes), Willie Macdougall (Teaninich), Tricia MacIntyre (Lagavulin, Caol Ila), John MacLellan (Kilchoman), Ian MacMillan (Burn Stewart), Grant MacPherson (Cadenhead), Ian McAlister (Glen Scotia), Christine McCafferty (Diageo), Des McCagherty (Edradour), Alan McConnochie (GlenDronach), Stephen McGinty (McTears), Sandy McIntyre (Glen Elgin, Glenlossie, Mannochmore), Stuart and Heather Martin (Freeloader Motors Ltd.), Ann Miller (Chivas Brothers), Andrew Millsopp (Royal Lochnagar), Carol More (Aberfeldy), Joe Mulacheski (Christmas City Studio), John Peterson (Loch Lomond), John R. Piggott (Strathclyde University, ret.), Richard Pike (Bonhams, NY), Jeff Power (Blair Athol), Morag Ralph (Edrington Group), Mark Reynier (Bruichladdich), Dylan F. Richard, Gillian Ritchie (Inverhouse), Brian Robinson (William Grant & Sons), John Ross (William Grant & Sons), Ronnie Routledge

5 (Glenglassaugh), Scotch Whisky Research Institute (SWRI), Andrew Shand (Speyside), Euan Shand (Duncan Taylor), Kartik Shankar (Tech Support Inc.), Alan Shayne (SMWSA), Derek Sinclair (Inver House), Moyra Sirrell (Inverhouse), Courtney Smith (Chivas Brothers), Vicky Stevens (Laphroaig), Gordon Stuart, Duncan Tait (Knockando), Mark Tayburn (Abhainn Dearg), David Thomson (Annandale), Mike Tough (Oban), Chris Ward (Auchentoshan), Malcolm Waring (Pulteney), Stephen Woodcock (Inchgower), and Robin Van Zelst (Diageo). Additional thanks and gratitude must go to several people for their long-standing support, encouragement, and advice for many years. Sheila Birtles (SWRI, ret.), Jeanne Fredericks (Jeanne Fredericks Literary Agency), Richard Gordon (formerly SMWS),Ted and Helen Harrison (Jobs and Gates Ltd), Peter and Margaret Nicol (Macallan, ret.), Dennis Malcolm (Glen Grant), Ronnie Macdonald (Boortmalt), Charles MacLean (writer), Graham MacWilliam (Edrington Group), Frank McHardy (Springbank), Sibh Megson (formerly SMWS), Hamish Proctor (Glenlivet), Colin Ross (Ben Nevis), Iain Stothard, and Jamie Walker. Deepest thanks and gratitude to R.B. Although I rely on people and personal interviews for much of my information, I always have at hand a core set of reference books that I value for their depth of coverage on a broad range of whisky topics. I first reach for several books that particularly provide a grounding in the history of an industry and a country that I came to second-hand. These include foundation books like The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom by Alfred Barnard, The Making of Scotch Whisky by Michael S. Moss and John R. Hume, Scotch Whisky: Its Past and Present by David Daiches, the Scotch Whisky Industry Record by H. Charles Craig, and Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History by Charles MacLean. I am grateful to have nearby, Ingvar Ronde s Malt Whisky Yearbook and Charlie MacLean s Whiskypedia and Malt Whisky. Diageo made their archives freely available and provided the DCL History Series written by Brian Spiller from 1981 to Both the A to Z of Whisky by Gavin D. Smith and The Whisk(e)y Treasury by Walter Schobert proved to be an essential reference for whisky terminology. With much appreciation, I thank the Scotch Whisky Research Institute for their willingness to allow the reproduction of their Flavour Wheel. And finally, several companies have commissioned monographs about their own distilleries that are not always readily available to the public. Among those I found most helpful were C.S. McBain s Glen Grant, Jim Turle s Glengoyne, and both Knockando and The Mystery and Magic of Aberlour by Andrew Langley. Although not a monograph, I appreciated having available Ian Buxton s book, Glenglassaugh, a Distillery Reborn.

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7 To former and current distillery managers for sharing their knowledge and experience with generosity, kindness, and good humor.

8 Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii INTRODUCTION xxi The Sidebars xxii Whisky Lexicon xxii The Noser Knows xxii The Distillery Cat s Meow xxii PART ONE: Buying, Tasting, Understanding How Do You Begin? Buying Single Malt Whisky Choosing Single Malt Whiskies Where to Begin? Reading the Label Categories The Age of Single Malt Whisky What s in a Name? Storing Your Single Malts Keeping Single Malts Affordable Whisky Clubs Whisky Bars Tastings Friends and Families What You Need to Know Preparing a Tasting Identifying Selections and Tasting Notes Whisky Selections for Your Tasting Pouring the Whisky Samples What You Need to Know Tasting and Evaluating With Water, Or Without? Cask Strength Malts and Water Non-Chill Filtered Malts and Water Ice and Malts A Tasting Procedure The Color

9 viii The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky Nosing Tasting A Drop of Water The SWRI Flavour Wheel Nasal Effects Mouthfeel Primary Tastes and Aromas What You Need to Know PART TWO: The Whisky-Making Process A Distiller s Key Ingredients Begin with Water Cool, Clean Water Add Tons of Barley Distillery Standards Dry Gently Over Peat and Smoke Cream 100 Kilos of Yeast Developing Flavors What You Need to Know Making Whisky: The First Steps Malting Barley Enzymes are the Key The Malting Floor Heritage Smoke or No Smoke Maintaining the Tradition Central Maltsters Preparation Steeping Germination Kilning Dressing Milling Grinding the Malt into Grist Mashing Mash Tuns Fermenting Flavor Development Temperature is Crucial Length of Fermentation Washbacks Wood or Stainless Steel

10 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky ix What s Your Flavor Profile? What You Need to Know The Art of Distillation Looking at Basic Distillation The First Distillation The Second Distillation Taking the Cut Distilling Variables The Spirit Run Determining the Middle Cut Finding the Heart Number of Distillations Triple Distillation Two, Two-and-a-Half, Three Running the Stills Copper Contact with the Spirit Designing the Stills Short Ones, Fat Ones, Skinny Ones, Too Breaking the Rules Variations on a Theme If It Ain t Broke, Don t Fix It Heating the Stills Direct or Indirect Firing Cooling Systems Condensers or Worms Cleaning and Conditioning the Stills Alcoholic Strength and Filling How Much Does it Take? What You Need to Know Maturation: The Last Step The Benefits of Youth and Age Oak and Only Oak Interaction Toasting or Charring Addition and Subtraction The Influence of Terroir Real or Imagined Warehousing Size Matters Wood Finishes Bourbon or Sherry What Fill, First Fill, Refill Face-Lift

11 x The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky Why Use Previously Filled Casks? What You Need to Know PART THREE: The Single Malt Distilleries and their Whiskies The Lowlands Ailsa Bay Distillery A Malt Distillery Returns to Girvan From the Boardroom to the Barrel A Future for Research and Development Annandale Distillery The Future Becomes the Present The Next Vision Auchentoshan Distillery Glasgow s Distillery Clydebank Blitz Triple Distillation More Than a Breakfast Whisky Bladnoch Distillery Daftmill Distillery Glenkinchie Distillery A Model Distilling Village What You Need to Know The Central Highlands Aberfeldy Distillery John Dewar and his Sons The Process Blair Athol Distillery Dalwhinnie Distillery Modernization and Refurbishment Deanston Distillery From Cotton to Whisky Green Whisky Edradour Distillery Passing the Tradition Along Maintaining Tradition, Planning for the Future Glengoyne Distillery Burnfoot Distillery Glengoyne Distillery

12 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky xi An Extended Family The Sherry Effect Glenturret Distillery Handcrafted Spirit Two Still Designs and a Slow Boil Loch Lomond Distillery The Stills Traditional Stills Rectifying Stills Column Stills Royal Brackla Distillery Making Brackla A New Dawn Speyside Distillery A Quiet Vision Tomatin Distillery Whisky Factory Smaller Scale, More Malts Tullibardine Distillery The Vision of Delmé-Evans The Reawakening and Revival of Tullibardine Tullibardine Malt in the New Millennium What You Need to Know The Northern Highlands Balblair Distillery The Sleeping Princess Awakes Quiet Pleasures Finally, a Day in the Sun Clynelish Distillery Two Distilleries, Two Names, One Site Candlewax Dalmore Distillery The Mackenzie Connection Remembering its Heritage Glen Ord Distillery The Singleton Evolves from Multiple Names Glenmorangie Distillery The Gin Stills Double Maturation Pulteney Distillery Teaninich Distillery

13 xii The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky Part A and Part B Cutting-Edge Distilling What You Need to Know The Eastern Highlands Ardmore Distillery Vision of the Future, Lessons from the Past Changes and Innovation Experimentation with Maturation Fettercairn Distillery Irrigating the Stills Glencadam Distillery New Tunes on the Old Stills GlenDronach Distillery Independent Move One of the Last Floor Maltings Closes Sherry and Other Finishes Glen Garioch Distillery Finding Water, Launching a Single Malt The Next Step Glenglassaugh Distillery An Imagined Footprint A Postwar Distillery Design Glenglassaugh Reinvented The New Millennium Distillery Knockdhu Distillery A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet New Equipment, Old Ways The Worm Turns Macduff Distillery The Delmé-Evans Design Royal Lochnagar Distillery The Royal Warrant Distilling Traditions from Fifty Years Ago Distilling is not Formulaic What You Need to Know The Western Highlands Ben Nevis Distillery The Adventures and Misadventures of Joseph Hobbs The Nikka Era The Bottlings

14 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky xiii Oban Distillery The Mesolithic Connection What You Need to Know Speyside Aberlour Distillery The Businessman and Philanthropist Developing a Flavor Profile Allt-a-Bhainne Distillery A Modern Distillery for the 1970s Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride Auchroisk Distillery A Change in Plans A Distillery for the Late Twentieth Century Aultmore Distillery Something Old, Something New Balmenach Distillery A White Knight to the Rescue The Revival of a Faded Lady Balvenie Distillery The Balvenie Rose Rugged Individualists BenRiach Distillery Snow White Meets Her Prince Finishing School, Latin Smoke, and Age Benrinnes Distillery A Variation on the Distillation Theme Benromach Distillery Braeval Distillery An Outpost in the Early Years Distilling the Braeval Spirit Cardhu Distillery Whisky Woman Pure Malt vs Single Malt Cragganmore Distillery A Family Affair Consistency and Continuity Craigellachie Distillery Function Trumps Form Dailuaine Distillery The Little Engine that Could

15 xiv The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky Multiple Personalities Dufftown Distillery A Blending Malt, but Now the Singleton Glenallachie Distillery Distilling a Blending Malt Glenburgie Distillery Lomond Stills at Glenburgie After Two Hundred Years A New Distillery Glendullan Distillery A New Glendullan Glen Elgin Distillery A Troubled Beginning Moving Forward Glenfarclas Distillery Big and then Bigger If It Ain t Broke, Don t Fix It Glenfiddich Distillery The Pioneering Spirit Developing the Glenfiddich Profile Glen Grant Distillery The Same, Same, but Different Brothers James Grant, the Innovator The Distillery Gardens Paying Forward to the Grandson Mergers and Expansion The End of the Grant Family Ownership The Fruits of Glen Grant s Stills Glen Keith Distillery (Mothballed) The Era of C.S. McBain Experimental Stills The Glenlivet Distillery The Successes and Escapades of George Smith Glenlivet and its American Cousins Glenlivet and the Big Time Glenlossie Distillery Is this One Part Greater than the Whole? The Purifying Effect Glen Moray Distillery Out with the Old, In with the New, Back with the Old New Owner, New Future Glenrothes Distillery The Devil s Brew and the Church The Wine Merchant and the Malt Glen Spey Distillery

16 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky xv The Jewel Box Distillery Radiators and Purifiers Bound for the Blenders Glentauchers Distillery Always Meant for Blending Imperial Distillery (Mothballed) A Jubilee Distillery Inchgower Distillery The Original Plan vs the Current Jumble Kininvie Distillery A Piggyback Distillery Three Bottlings Celebrate a Birthday Knockando Distillery A Variation on the Distillation Theme Linkwood Distillery Longmorn Distillery The Early Years Making Longmorn The Macallan Distillery The Macallan a Benchmark The Second Millennium The Heritage Mannochmore Distillery A (Relative) Newcomer to the Game Miltonduff Distillery A Large Production Plant Making a Blending Malt Mortlach Distillery The Wee Witchie Bewitches Roseisle Distillery The Future the Low Road? The Future the High Road? Speyburn Distillery The Old Century The New Century Strathisla Distillery Relocating Glen Grant s Heritage Loopy Lyne Arms Strathmill Distillery Tamdhu Distillery A Work in Progress Tamnavulin Distillery All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go A Face-Lift for Tamnavulin s Stills

17 xvi The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky Tomintoul Distillery Postwar Technology New Age Wood The People and the Place Tormore Distillery Distillery Topiary and More A Late Twentieth-Century Distillery What You Need to Know The Islands Abhainn Dearg Distillery A Guardian, Not an Owner Model Stills Where Do We Go from Here? Arran Distillery The Return of Distilling to Arran Island Decisions, Decisions Buy Your Own Cask Highland Park Distillery The Highland Park Thumbprint Floor Maltings on Orkney Island Long Fermentation and Slow Stills Sherry Casks and Cask Harmonizing Jura Distillery Making a New Jura Spirit Scapa Distillery Talisker Distillery Rebuilding and Replicating Push and Pull Creates a Flavorful Tension Tobermory Distillery Necessity is the Mother of Invention Two Single Malts One Distillery Mother of Invention Redux What You Need to Know Islay Ardbeg Distillery Resurrection and Rejuvenation Taming the Peat Beast Bowmore Distillery Peat and Floor Maltings at Bowmore Peat, the Sea, and Character Bruichladdich Distillery

18 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky xvii Avant-Garde in Avant-Garde in An Alternative Approach to Whisky Stocks Designer Whiskies and Beyond Bunnahabhain Distillery Modernization and an Altered Malt The Delicacy of Bunnahabhain Caol Ila Distillery The Waterloo Street Design Stills Rising from the Sound of Islay Kilchoman Distillery Charter Guidelines The Future Lagavulin Distillery Smoke and Stills Laphroaig Distillery Peat Fields and Peat-Reek What You Need to Know Campbeltown Glengyle Distillery A Work in Progress Glen Scotia Distillery The Revolving Door A New Start in the New Century? Springbank Distillery Whisky Making Completely On-Site Three Spirits, Three Peat Levels, Three Stills What You Need to Know PART FOUR: First a Bottle, Now a Collection Collecting Whisky Make Me an Offer: What to Collect? Trophy Bottles Independent Bottlers Lost Distilleries Limited in Numbers Special Series Celebration Events Global Travel Retail, aka Duty-Free The Inside Scoop

19 xviii The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky A Good Story Serendipity Spirited Festivals The Accidental Investor What Now? Keeping Your Collection Safe Lying Down or Standing Up Lowered Expectations Going Once, Going Twice Graduating from Bottles to Casks What You Need to Know Lost and Hidden Distilleries The Lost Distilleries The Hidden Malt Distilleries Experimental Stills The Importance Banff Distillery Ben Wyvis Distillery Brora Distillery Caperdonich Distillery (Pronounced cap-er-don-ick) Coleburn Distillery Convalmore Distillery Dallas Dhu Distillery(Pronounced dallas-do) Glen Albyn Distillery (Pronounced glen-al-binn) Glencraig Distillery Glenesk Distillery Glenlochy Distillery Glen Mhor Distillery (Pronounced glen-var) Glenugie Distillery Glenury Royal Distillery Inverleven (and Lomond) Distillery Kinclaith Distillery Ladyburn Distillery Littlemill Distillery Lochside Distillery Millburn Distillery Moffat Distilleries (produced Killyloch, Glen Flagler, and Islebrae malts) Mosstowie Distillery North Port Distillery Pittyvaich Distillery (Pronounced PEH-ty-vake) Port Ellen Distillery Rosebank Distillery St. Magdalene Distillery What You Need to Know

20 The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky xix 19 Independent Bottlers Bottlers as Blenders Reciprocal Trades and Whisky Brokers Legal Protection and Teaspooning Protection One Man s Trash is Another Man s Treasure The Future? William Cadenhead Ltd. (Pronounced CAD (rhymes with Tad)-in-head) Gordon & MacPhail Stocks A Depth and Breadth History in a Cask Douglas Laing and Co New Opportunities The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Signatory Vintage Malt Whisky Company Building the Brand and Securing the Future Duncan Taylor Ltd The New York Connection New Ownership Adelphi (Pronounced ah-dell-fee) Blackadder International Compass Box Whisky Company Dewar Rattray Hart Brothers James MacArthur Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd Murray McDavid Scott s Selection Vintage Malt Whisky Company Appendix A: Whisky Words: A Glossary of Whisky Terminology Appendix B: Alphabetical Distillery Locator

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22 I N T R O D U C T I O N Many years ago, I traveled to northern England to meet my new in-laws. I fell in love with them, new potatoes, the Eden Valley, and single malt whiskies. I drank blended Scotch in America, but when a landlord in the local pub introduced me to single malts, I knew a very good thing when I tasted it. There was no turning back. In fact, there was a turning toward Scotland because the single malts, let alone information about them, were virtually unknown outside of Scotland. In this book I hope to introduce single malts by sharing the knowledge and adventures I have experienced since that first taste in a Cumbrian pub. There truly is nothing mystical or elitist about drinking single malts. This book will give you the tools to make some initial choices, the words to describe them, and the confidence to choose the styles of malts that you like to drink. The distillery profiles in Part 3 will give some color and provide the following details to help you better understand a particular single malt and the place that produces it: A pronunciation key to the name on the label of malt whisky A very brief history Several interesting facts or terms or stories A discussion of the production process and its effect on the flavor profile of the spirit Bottlings offered by the distillery Introductory tasting notes for the general house style at the end of each profile A Distillery Locator; an alphabetical listing by distillery name and accompanying page numbers to help you easily locate the information about any distillery This is a wonderful time to be sampling, understanding, and exploring single malts because of the recent advances and improvements that have occurred in the whisky industry during the last fifteen years. During this time, the understanding and examination of flavor development and the influence of different types of casks have resulted in distillers pushing the boundaries of whisky-making and exploring new possibilities. And the whisky enthusiast has been the happy recipient of their efforts in the arrival of different styles (not only from one region, but from one distillery), different finishes from different types of casks (a variety of wine, rum, and sherry), and perhaps most significantly an increased attention to quality and consistency. And all of the growing interest, globally, has brought us bottlings from distilleries that never previously offered their whiskies as a single malt. With just a basic foundation and understanding about single malts, you will be ready to explore some of the variations and subtleties offered by some of the newer or lesser-

23 xxii The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky known bottlings. You can browse this book to choose the information that is of interest or importance to you. Even if you are presently knowledgeable about single malts, there is a recent and growing world of collectible single malt and whisky auctions, as well as a wider list of bottlings offered by independent bottlers. Whatever your level of information, I hope you take pleasure in knowing that there is always something else to discover about single malts. My uncle, who taught at the West of Scotland Agricultural College as a grasslands advisor, always pours me a dram of single malt and then asks me to name the distillery that produced it. I know this question is coming every time I share a single malt with him. When I correctly named the distillery of the malt we last shared, he sniffed and grumped, Well, I don t suppose you can tell me which field of barley it came from. Not only does he make me laugh, but he also serves to remind me I still have things to learn about single malt whisky. It is an enjoyable journey made more pleasant with the company of readers like you. The Sidebars You will find three different sidebars scattered throughout the book that will provide interesting facts, additional information, or little-known stories associated with malt whisky and its distilleries. Whisky Lexicon Provides definitions of terms used in the whisky world The Noser Knows Gives tasting tips or information about flavor development. Each distillery profile ends with a Noser Knows sidebar that contains the tasting notes in an easily accessible location. The Distillery Cat s Meow Relates to the history of the whisky industry. Not long ago, most distilleries employed a cat or two to control the rodent population attracted by the easy accessibility to free barley. Some, like the legendary mouser Towser of the Glenturret Distillery, became famous; all were pampered and loved. And I didn t know of any distillery manager who didn t complain about them at the same time they were pouring bowls of cream or fluffing pillows or stoking the fire for them.

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26 P A R T O N E Buying, Tasting, Understanding: How Do You Begin?

27 P a r t o n e Buying, Tasting, Understanding: How Do You Begin? Water or no water? Ice? You ll learn what s to be gained (or lost) with any of these additions. Chapters 2 and 3 will guide you through a tasting, and they will explain the reasons for each step (it really isn t mumbo jumbo). With the assistance of the Scotch Whisky Research Institute s Flavour Wheel, you ll be able to anchor broad terminology with specific and concrete examples (and then expand your descriptions with your own examples). Most importantly, you ll get to appreciate the layers of flavor in single malts and understand the character and type of malt that you prefer.

28 C h a p t e r 1 Buying Single Malt Whisky In This Chapter Understanding a whisky label Storing your malts Spreading the cost The best way to begin learning about single malts or further your knowledge is to taste and enjoy them. While it is certainly possible to enjoy a single malt whisky on one s own, I have always found an added enjoyment and pleasure in sharing the experience with friends, introducing them to new malts, exchanging opinions, and simply enjoying the malts in good company. Unless I am evaluating whiskies professionally, this is the way I tend to drink malts. Of course, before you can taste and enjoy single malt whiskies, you need to be familiar with the range of choices that single malts offer. Choosing Single Malt Whiskies Where to Begin? Ideally, you have a well-stocked wine and spirits store with a knowledgeable staff available to you. Use their experience and knowledge to ask them to recommend several malt whiskies, and also ask about the flavor profiles of their recommendations. Even if you know very little about single malts, you probably know what you like in the way of flavors, but don t be afraid to take a risk from time to time. If you know you like fruity-flavored whiskies and that is all you ever choose, you ll never expand your experience or knowledge. More realistically, the wine and spirits store available to you has a limited selection with staff that can offer little guidance. Begin, then, with this book, and choose some whiskies from the flavor profiles. Select different types of single malts, choosing a lightly peated, fruity, and

29 4 Part 1 Buying, Tasting, Understanding How Do You Begin? sherried whisky, for example. Arm yourself with several choices and then match them to whatever your local shop has in stock. One fact works in your favor if you have a local shop with a limited selection: you will generally find that the choices they carry include some of the top name brands The Macallan, The Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, Cardhu, Glen Moray, Laphroaig, or Highland Park. On the other hand, the shop owners may have had a visit from the distributor of Diageo s Classic Malt series and may carry selections only from that series Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Talisker, Lagavulin, Oban, and Dalwhinnie. Even with a limited selection, any of these malt whiskies would provide a good starting point. Although it is quite possible to get a poor single malt, it happens with less regularity than it does with wine. Particularly, as you expand your horizons and begin to taste some of the more esoteric bottlings or expressions, you may find some that are less than stellar, but the standard brand names tend to be good. Reading the Label Prior to 2009, the labels on bottles of single malt whisky contained very little information and sometimes included outright misleading information. All that changed in 2009, when the Scotch Whisky Association lobbied the Scottish Parliament to pass regulations outlining the production process for whisky, its categories and labeling, the use of distillery names, and the description of geographical regions. Many people feel that this came about because of the confusing labeling used when Cardhu Distillery bottled whisky from two distilleries under the description pure malt. (See distillery profile of Cardhu.) The labels and explanations [opposite] provide eleven points and expanded details so that you can thoroughly decipher the information on a label. But there are three major points you should remember, particularly if you are a first-time buyer the category, the age, and the name. Categories First, and most important, be certain that the label carries the description Single Malt Scotch Whisky. This indicates that one single distillery produced all the whisky in the bottle from malted barley. If you want to buy single malt whisky, this is how the bottle should be labeled. The label on other bottles of Scotch whisky may carry other descriptions, including blended malt Scotch whisky, single grain Scotch whisky, blended grain Scotch whisky, or blended Scotch whisky.