There’s scotch, and then there’s single malt age-distinction scotch. In today’s whisky industry where the vast majority of whiskies are blended and NAS (no age statement), this distinction is a rare commodity.
Fine Wines by Liquor Select sells age statement Scotch almost exclusively as we believe that this is the best way to taste the distinct character of each distillery.
What Goes into Making Scotch?
While it’s true that your tastebuds should be the judge of what tastes great or not, sometimes the way things are made can elevate a drink to the next level. This is the case with Scotch whisky. A traditional alcoholic drink originating from Scotland, Scotch is made from malted barley. Many distilleries in the 18 th century began manufacturing Scotch from not malted barley, but rather wheat and rye whole grains.
Today, a large majority of the whisky market is comprised of blended whisky, a mixture of malt and grain whiskies from more than one distillery. A single malt whisky (or Scotch as it’s known here) is simply a drink made of one type of malted barley from one distillery.
Now to get even fancier, a single-malt age statement scotch is the crème de la crème (although NAS supporters may dispute this argument). An age statement lets you know what’s in that bottle of whisky you’re buying. Most single malt age statements range in age from 10 to 20 years. So if you have a 10 year age statement, this means that the youngest whisky is 10 years old.
It’s nice to know the age of the whiskey as Scotch whisky typically needs 3 years to mature. However malt whisky matures more slowly than grain whisky which is why many customers seek age statement whiskies. While other factors affect the developing of whisky such as the type and quality of cask used, single malt age-distinction Scotches are a coveted item Liquor Select is proud to carry.