Malt Madness focusses mainly on Scotch single malt whisky.
But the world of whisky stretches a lot further. And not just beyond the borders of Scotland, mind you. Single malts are just one kind of
whisky; blends and vatted malts are whisky types in their own right. See the 'Beginner's Guide' for more information on this subject.
'Bastard' single malts 47 - Ardnave 10 yrs. |
Related remarks and It wasn't before 1997 that I seriously started rating
vatted malts, blends, bourbons and the like. It took a few years for my nose and palate to develop sufficiently. Please take into account that I don't take the rating of these whiskies as serious as my nosing and tasting of single
malts. ------------------------- Character and individuality are very important to me - at least where whiskies are concerned. That is why even excellent blends like Chivas Regal Royal Salute and Original Maclinlay 21 yrs.
barely meet the 80 points 'great' benchmark. Single malts simply have more 'personality' and 'character' than blends. --------------------------- Another
point of interest: By their very nature, blended and 'vatted' whiskies can be quite different in different years. After all, blending isn't an exact science. The blender has to combine twenty or more different whiskies to produce a
uniform product year after year - not an easy task. One more reason not to take these ratings too seriously. ---------------------- 'Typical Johanno-ranges' for Beer: 1 - 35 Please bear in mind that these ratings are only
meant to indicate my personal feelings towards a specific drink. Fine wines are pretty much wasted on me and this is reflected in these personal ratings. ------------------------- When I'm writing this down one more advantage
of single malt whiskies comes to mind; no hangover! Could this have something to do with the absence of grain whisky? |
Since I discovered single malts, my consumption of other types of whisky has decreased dramatically. After all; why should I waste my time and money on 'nice' whiskies when I could be drinking great whiskies? Well - hold that thought.... Something can be said for the sampling of an occasional blended whisky or vatted malt. For one thing, It helps me to keep things in perspective. Even the single malts that end up in the 'worst single malts' catagory are usually better than your average blend or vatted malt - with the notable exception of Loch Dhu 10 yrs.
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liquid log
Scotch vatted malts 48 - Blairmhor 8 yrs Scotch blends & grain 37 - Bailie Nicol Jarvie Ireland 53 - Bushmills Malt U.S.A. (Bourbon & Rye) 26 - Four Roses Canada 19 - Canadian Club New Zealand 70 - Lammerlaw 10 yrs. Japan 61 - Suntory Kakubin (rating varies) |