Scotch Single Malt
A single malt Scotch is a whisky produced at a single distillery in Scotland, made entirely from malted barley, distilled in copper pot stills and matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years. Its character is shaped as much by the distillery's water, stills and warehouses as by the barley itself.
Blended Scotch
Blended Scotch combines single malt whiskies from multiple distilleries with grain whisky distilled in continuous column stills. It emerged in the mid-nineteenth century and, for most of the twentieth century, was the whisky most of the world drank. The blender's art lies in composing a consistent house style from many changing component parts.
Single Pot Still Irish
Unique to Ireland, Single Pot Still whiskey is made from a mash of both malted and unmalted barley, triple-distilled in copper pot stills. The style originated partly as a response to nineteenth-century British taxes on malted grain and has come to define Ireland's classical whiskey character.
Blended Irish
Blended Irish whiskey combines pot still, malt and grain whiskies and is the dominant style produced on the island today. Historically triple-distilled and matured for a minimum of three years, it is generally lighter and smoother than its Scottish counterpart.
Japanese Whisky
Japanese whisky drew its earliest inspiration from Scotland but has developed a philosophy of its own, emphasising subtlety, balance and precision. Recent legal definitions require that whisky labelled as Japanese be fermented, distilled and matured in Japan for a minimum period.
American Bourbon
Bourbon must be produced in the United States from a mash of at least fifty-one per cent corn, distilled to no more than 160 proof, and matured in new charred American oak barrels. The result is a sweeter, richer, oak-forward style of whiskey with a deep amber colour.
Tennessee Whiskey
Tennessee whiskey follows the same core rules as bourbon but includes a distinctive filtration step known as the Lincoln County Process, in which the new spirit is passed through sugar-maple charcoal before entering the cask. This gives Tennessee whiskey a characteristically smooth, mellow profile.
Canadian Whisky
Canadian whisky is typically a blend of high-proof grain whiskies and flavouring whiskies, most often built around a base of corn and finished with rye. Its production style, developed in the nineteenth century, produces whiskies of great smoothness and versatility.