Whisky basics

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more intriguing facts to come later ......

Single malt whisky

Single malt whisky is one of the most popular spirits in the world and people enjoy drinking it in every country on the planet. The term 'single malt' refers to a whisky which is distilled at one distillery and then matured and bottled. the alternative is a blended whisky, which is made up of whiskies that have been produced at different distilleries and normally of different ages. There is no such thing as a 'double malt'.

Single malts are made using barley which is then malted, a process where germination is started so as to turn the starch present in to natural sugars. These sugars are then turned to alcohol during the fermentation process. For more information on this see How is whisky made.

Single malt whiskies are produced in various locations around the world, but the most popular and well known are made in Scotland, Ireland and Japan. Single malt whisky can only be called 'scotch' if it comes from Scotland.

the still room at glenmorangie
The still room at Glenmorangie