On July 27, we recognize an aged whisky distilled from malted barley. It is National Scotch Day!
This particular whisky first and foremost must be made in Scotland.
There are five distinct categories of Scotch whisky including single malt Scotch, single grain Scotch, blended malt Scotch, blended grain Scotch and blended Scotch.
- Single Malt Scotch Whisky is made from 100% malted barley and distilled at a single distillery.
- Blended Scotch Whisky is made by blending together a number of single malts and grain whiskies.
- 90% of all Scotch whisky sold in the market comprises of Blended Scotch Whisky.
- The whisky in ‘Scotch Whisky’ is always spelt without an ‘e’.
- In Britain, the term ‘whisky’ is taken to mean Scotch whisky only, unless it has been specified otherwise.
- There are mainly two types of Scotch whisky – Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Blended Scotch Whisky.
- Single Malt Scotch Whisky is made from 100% malted barley and distilled at a single distillery.
- In English-speaking countries other than England, Scotch whisky is often referred to as simply ‘Scotch’.
- Scotch whisky should not contain any added substance, apart from water and caramel coloring.
- In case the term ‘Scotch’ is missing from the label of a whisky, there are strong chances that it has not been made in Scotland.
- If a label contains the words ‘single malt’ or ‘single highland malt’, the bottle contains single malt Scotch whisky.
- The basis of Scotch whisky is the heather-flavored ales made from barley malt.
- The first documented proof of the existence of a distillery in Scotland dates back to 1494.
- There are more casks of aging whisky than there are people in Scotland. With a population of 5.3 million, and more than 20 million barrels of whisky in store, Scotland has almost four casks of whisky per citizen.
- The world’s leading importer of scotch whisky is—wait for it—France
- Four bottles of Johnnie Walker are consumed every second.
- There are only 12 Master Blenders of whisky in the entire world.
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