5 Types of Scotch

Both Scotch and whiskey are both spirits that have a significant alcohol content. Even though Scotch is sometimes known as Scotch whisky, it’s actually not identical to whiskey.

What is Scotch?

Scotch is an alcohol-based beverage (known as an spirit) created from water and malted barley; There are also companies who produce it with malted barley or malted rye. They manufacture Scotches exclusively in Scotland, specifically around Islay, Speyside, Highlands, Campbeltown, and Lowland. The Scotch age for at least three months in barrels of oak sometimes called oak casks.

There’s also a derivative of Scotch that is known as peaty Scotch, peated Scotch smoking dram as well as smokey Scotch. The peated flavor is derived from the barley germination process.

5 types of Scotch

There are multiple types of Scotch whisky and each one has distinctive flavor and manufacturing process. Here are some popular varieties of Scotch:

1. Blended Scotch whisky: grain Scotch whisky and malt whisky combine in blended Scotch whisky.

2. Cask-strength Scotch: This type of Scotch flows directly from the cask into the bottle. There aren’t any other steps, nor additional flavors.

3. Scotch whisky from 18 years of age as the name suggests the Scotch is aged for 18 year in barrels of oak. There are several kinds and flavors to choose from.

4. Single grain Scotch whisky: In order to make single-grain Scotch whiskies the entire process has to be carried out in one distillery. This version is built on a base consisting of malted barley and water as well as malted or unmalted cereals, making a blended malt.

5. Single-malt Scotch whisky is made by an individual distillery, and utilizes malted barley as the Mash. Ten percent of Scotch whisky spirits are single malts, making single-malt whisky a rare thing.

What Is Whiskey?

A spirit too, whiskey is a booze made by fermenting grain mash which is around 40 percentage alcohol volume (ABV). The word whiskey originates from the Gaelic “uisce beatha” or “uisge beatha,” meaning “water of life.” Whiskies (or whiskeys) come in multiple types based on the type of grain mix, the area of production and aging process, as well as other elements.

Distilleries create whiskey in stills and let it sit to at least 2 years old. If a whisky is aged in less than four years, producers must print an indication of age to the labels. Whiskey producers use white oak barrels and sherry casks (casks which are soaked with sherry) and charred sherry oak barrels or other varieties. Whiskey can also be referred to as “whisky” in some parts of the world.

6 Whiskey Types

Distilleries manufacture whiskey all over the world, creating variations with local distinctions. Here are several popular types of whiskey:

1. Bourbon whiskey: This American whiskey originates mostly from Kentucky. It must contain at least fifty percent corn, as a component of the various grains used in its mash. The producers from America United States have to make it in charred oak barrels. Bourbon barrels with specific characteristics impart oaky smells.

2. Canadian whisky: Canadian whisky has at minimum a forty percent ABV, or alcohol per volume. It must be distilled in Canada to qualify for the Canadian designation and then mature for a minimum of 3 years. There are times when Canadian whisky is labelled calling it Rye whisky (sometimes called Rye whiskey).

3. Irish whiskey Bottled exclusively in Ireland, Irish whiskey has a base of malt, cereal grain, and barley. It also has a three-year ageing period and has the most subtle flavor than other whiskeys.

4. Japanese whisky: Some Japanese distilleries employ a Japanese oak cask. While Japanese whisky goes through the distillation process inside Japan, the product does not necessarily come from the country.

5. Scotch whisky: This form of whisky comes from Scotland and is made up of malt whisky, grain whisky or a combination of grain whisky and malt. Scottish whiskies have to age for three years in an oak barrel.

6. Tennessee whiskey: Distillers put Tennessee whiskey, a variant of bourbon, through sugar maple charcoal before aging it.

Scotch vs. Whiskey: Four Differences Between the Spirits

Scotch and whiskey are two distinct alcoholic spirits that people often mistakenly associate with one another. There are four distinct areas in which the two differ:

The process of aging: Scotch maturates in oak caks that have been in use before to store wine or other spirits. Whiskey is usually stored in charred white oak barrels for maturation.

Flavor: Scotch tastes smoother than whiskey. This is due to how the distillery malts the grains.

Whiskey is an alcoholic distillation beverage made from barley wheat, grain, or corn. Scotch whisky was initially made solely using malted barley, but since the 18th century, the producers have also used malted wheat and malted rye.

Production Scotch whisky producers often malt their grains prior to fermentation. In order to malt their grains distillers soak them in the water (in Barley cases, grains will sprout) and this prepares the starches for fermentation into sugars.

How to Drink Scotch or Whiskey

There are many methods of drinking Scotch and whiskey, each with different flavor profiles that are created by the distillation and fermenting processes. Some people like to drink Scotch on the rocks–in this instance the rocks are made of ice cubes.

An old-fashioned is a common cocktail, that is made using whisky, a sugar cube Angostura bitters and rye and orange twist. Another bar drink that is very popular is a Rob Roy, which is essentially the same as a Manhattan however, instead of using rye whiskey it is made with Scotch whisky, which is paired with bitters, vermouth and a maraschino cherries in the glass of a martini.