Liquid Gold

Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland. In Britain, the term whisky is usually taken to mean Scotch unless otherwise specified. In other English-speaking countries, it is often referred to as "Scotch".

Legal definitionTo be called Scotch whisky the spirit must conform to the standards of the Scotch Whisky Order of 1990 (UK), which clarified the Scotch Whisky Act 1988, and mandates that, the spirit:·

• Must be distilled at a Scottish distillery from water and malted barley, to which only other whole grains may be added, have been processed at that distillery into a mash, converted to a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems, and fermented only by the addition of yeast.
• Must be distilled to an alcoholic strength of less than 94.8% by volume so that it retains the flavour of the raw materials used in its production.
• Must be matured in Scotland in oak casks for no less than three years and a day.
• Must not contain any added substance other than water and caramel coloring.
• May not be bottled at less than 40% alcohol by volume.

Types of Scotch whisky
There are two major categories, single and blended. Single means that all of the product is from a single distillery, while Blended means that the product is composed of whiskies from two or more distilleries. Traditional practices define five types:
Single malt whisky is a 100% malted barley whisky from one distillery, distilled in batches in pot stills.
Single grain whisky is distilled at a single distillery from water and malted barley, with or without whole grains of other cereals; it must not meet the requirements of a single malt whisky.
Blended malt (formerly called Vatted malt) whisky that is a blend of single malt whiskies, from more than one distillery.
Blended grain whisky is a whisky created by mixing grain whiskies from more than one distillery.
Blended Scotch whisky is a mixture of single malt whisky and grain whisky, distilled at more than one distillery.
Single grain
The majority of grain whisky produced in Scotland goes to make blended Scotch whisky. The average blended whisky is 60%–85% grain whisky. Some higher quality grain whisky from a single distillery is bottled as single grain whisky. As of 2006, there are only seven grain whisky distilleries in Scotland.

Vatted / Blended malt
Vatted malt whisky—also called pure malt—is one of the less common types of Scotch: a blend of single malts from more than one distillery and with differing ages.[citation needed] Vatted malts contain only malt whiskies—no grain whiskies—and are usually distinguished from other types of whisky by the absence of the word ‘single’ before ‘malt’ on the bottle, and the absence of a distillery name. To qualify as a Vatted Malt, the mixed single malt whiskies are matured in the barrel for 1 year, after which the age of the vat is that of the youngest of the original ingredients. Vatted malt marked “8 years old” will include older whiskies, the youngest constituent was 8 years old before vatting. Johnnie Walker Green is an example of vatted malt. As of November 2009, no Scotch whisky could be labelled as vatted malt, with UK Government guidelines requiring them to be labelled blended malt.

Blended
Blended Scotch whisky constitutes over 90% of the whisky produced in Scotland. Blended Scotch whiskies contain both malt whisky and grain whisky. They were initially created as an alternative to single malt whiskies which were considered by some to be too harsh [citation needed]. Master blenders combine the various malts and grain whiskies to produce a consistent "brand style". Notable blended Scotch whisky brands include Bells, Dewar's, Johnnie Walker, Whyte and Mackay, Cutty Sark, J&B, The Famous Grouse and Chivas Regal.

Courtesy: Wikipedia