Glossary
Tasting Notes
The tasting notes detailed against each product try to convey the five most important aspects of each item; these are Colour, Nose, Flavour, Finish and Body. Please remember that the senses of taste and smell are unique to each person, you may well detect different flavours and aromas than those described. Don’t let this put you off; even the greatest connoisseurs can disagree over particular flavour elements. Use these tasting notes as guides for you to explore the intricacies and characteristics of each different malt whisky.
Editor’s Note
This is where The Whisky Connoisseur’s Editor places any comments or information relevant to the particular product, which may not be covered elsewhere on the product details.
Regions
Each single malt whisky produced in Scotland has its own unique flavours and aromas, making it different from the next one. However, whiskies produced in certain defined geographical areas or regions do have some shared characteristics. There are five established regions in Scotland and the are:
1 Speyside
2 Islay
3 Highland
4 Island
5 Lowland
Each region has its own style of flavour, but you should remember that this is not a strict guide for each individual distillery; there are distinct variations within each region.
1 SPEYSIDE
Named after the great River Spey which winds its way through this region, the general style of these whiskies is:
· Sweet, notes of honey
· Gently fruity
· Rich and complex
· Subtle smoke and peat
2 ISLAY
This region consists of just the single island of Islay off the West coast of Scotland, famed for producing some of the most instantly recognisable malts, the general style of these is:
· Heavily peated
· Medicinal/TCP
· Seaweedy
· Smoky
3 HIGHLAND
This region covers a huge swathe of the country, so to make it easier to understand it is split up into four sub-regions, which are:
1. North Highland
· Very distinct
· Subtle characteristics
· Full flavoured with a rich mellowness
· Can be delicate & gently peated
2. East Highland
· Full bodied
· Dry
· Fragrant
· Fruity sweetness
· Touch of smoke
3. South Highland
· Medium sweet
· Clean
· Light & fruity
4. West Highland – at present only Oban & Ben Nevis are working distilleries
· Oban – Medium, peaty, sea air & salt
· Ben Nevis – Fragrant, robust, fruity (oranges), touch of smoke
4 ISLAND
The island region consists of distilleries on the islands of Orkney, Skye, Mull, Jura & Arran, the general style of these is:
· Sweet
· Heathery
· Peaty
· Smoky
· Coastal – salty
· A balance between Highland malts and Islay malts
5 LOWLAND
There are few working malt whisky distilleries in this region, but bottles from closed or mothballed distilleries do appear regularly, the general style of these is:
· Light
· Lemony
· Herbal
· Floral
Distillery
This is the name of the distillery where the whisky was produced.
Age
This is the number of complete years from the first date of filling into the barrel to the date of bottling. For example if a single malt was filled into a barrel on the 12th July 1992, and it was bottled on the 6th March 2003, it would only have an age of 10 years, as there is only 10 complete years between the two dates.
To be classified as Scotch whisky or Single Malt Scotch Whisky, the spirit must have been aged in oak barrels/casks for a legal minimum of three years. There is no maximum age that a whisky can be, however, if left for too long the alcoholic strength can fall below the minimum legal standard of 40%, and some unpleasant woody flavours can overpower the flavour of the whisky.
Vintage
Vintage details the year a specific whisky was distilled.
Alcoholic Volume
This specifies the alcoholic strength by volume of the particular spirit.
The legal minimum strength for whisky is 40%vol, but The Whisky Connoisseur specialises in sourcing cask strength malts. These are whiskies that have not been diluted down to the 40%vol level, but left undiluted at the natural strength they came out of the cask at, typically over 50%vol.
Bottler
The vast array of single malt whiskies available in the supermarkets today are large scale production brand lines from the main distillery owners in Scotland. The Whisky Connoisseur specialises in sourcing unique single cask bottlings from independent bottlers, who are unattached to these huge conglomerates. These companies specialise in sourcing individual casks from distilleries and bottling them, unlike the main brands who bottle hundreds of casks at a time to produce their whiskies. As a result of this process there are only a fixed number of bottles produced from each cask, making it a limited moment in time captured in a bottle for you to release. This way you are assured the real taste of the whisky as it matured in the barrel.
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