Now, I don't want to start a brawl. Irish whiskey is nice. They and everyone else outside of Scotland use an "e." In Scotland, no e. It's spelled "whisky," it's also called scotch and scotch whisky, and is sometimes referred to as a malt, as in malted barley. If it isn't made in Scotland, it isn't Scotch. That's about it for the nomenclature, now let's get to the FUN!
Most scotch is blended. Because like everything else, it tastes like what it is made from: if the water is flowing downhill through miles of heather, it takes on some of that sweetness. If the malted barley is dried out over fires from peat bricks, that peaty smoky flavor gets in there too. There is an art in what you blend and how, and how much of each element you include. One of the first and probably the most brilliant blender was Johnny Walker - as in the name on all those square bottles with the slanted label.
The really COOL thing to know there is that Johnny Walker organizes tastings in major cities from time to time, with a variety of single malts that let you taste these elements individually - and yes, then come to see how they work together in a blend.
Blends are not evil, and to turn your nose up at them is to be a snob. There is a complexity to them. To be a true connoisseur and not just a pretentious poseur, is to appreciate a well crafted blended scotch.
Now, up until the conspicuous consumption of the 80s, single malts were little known outside of Scotland. It was an novelty. They caught on among yuppies largely because they were expensive and presented a chance to show off. There's nothing wrong with them, I have two on the bar right now. But they shouldn't be giving blends a bad name.
Anyway, as Harvey indicated once, there is no such thing as a "double malt" that is just pretention. Double malt = blend of 2 scotches = a blend.
Let's see, what else.
For the most part, older is better. The longer a scotch is aged, the smoother it becomes and the more complex its flavor. So if a blended scotch puts an age on the label, it can only put the age of the youngest scotch it contains. Some of the very serious premium blends add a small amount of a young malt to give it a certain spin. Rather than put "3 years old" or something the kneejerk connoisseurs would take as a negative, they omit the age altogether. So there.
I think that's all I've got for now. There is an analogy to be drawn from the age thing, but I'm in a hurry to get on with the day. Hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the delicious world of scotch. Maybe sometime we'll do Selina's martini.
