In the first chapter, I explained why I'm focussing my liquorous affections on whiskies from Scotland. It must be a lot bigger than it looks on the map, because there used to be way over 300 different distilleries there!
Nowadays, there are less than 100 active distilleries left.

Soon after I started drinking single malts, I discovered that whiskies from different parts of Scotland all have their own unique characteristics and style. The production and maturation of single malts is a slow process, and in the years and years of aging the spirit almost seems to absorb some of the character of its surroundings.

Campbeltown

At the end of chapter three, you find yourself packed with enough malt trivia to impress your average liquorist or bartender. That's quite enough theory, I should say, so let's get down to the more serious business of distillation. Click on!

Although most malts clearly advertise their origins in their nose and taste, every single malt is unique. The product of distilleries only miles apart can be quite different. Even the products of a single distillery often are very different from eachother.

So - different malts from the same part of Scotland share certain characteristics. The region of origin of a certain malt can sometimes tell you something about the character of the whisky, before you've even tasted it yet. Young Islay whiskies, for example, seem to have much more "nose" than whiskies from the Lowlands. "Islay" malts are famous for their smoky, peaty character.

One of the factors that defines some of the basic characteristics of a wine as well as a single malt is the area in which it is produced. But there are more issues at play here. A malt is influenced by the quality of the barley that year, the type of wood that is used for maturation, the duration of the maturation, etc. Try comparing the Glenmorangie 10 yrs. with the Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish, for instance. The only difference is some two years of extra maturation in used Port barrels - but what a difference it makes!