
Single MaltScotch Whisky
Malt whisky is the ‘original’ whisky of Scotland. Although other grains were used, barley was grown specifically for making beer and whisky. However, with the success of blended whisky in the late 19th century, little was drunk as single malt outside the Highlands until the 1980s, when ‘the vintages of the North’ were rediscovered by an enthusiastic public and began to be made available by distillery owners.
Single malt whisky must be made with 100% barley
Currently there are around 90 operating malt whisky distilleries in Scotland – it is difficult to be precise, since sometimes distilleries go out of production for periods, in order to balance stock levels. Single malts from a further 30-odd now closed distilleries may still be found.
Although made from very simple materials – malted barley, water and yeast – the make of each distillery has an individual character, owing to a variety of factors, such as the length of fermentation time, the style and size of the stills, and how they are operated, the type of condensers used and amount of spirit saved (called ‘the cut’).
By law, Scotch (both malt and grain whiskies) must be matured in oak casks in Scotland, and the casks themselves can make a huge contribution to the flavour of the finished product, according to a) how long the whisky has been left to mature, b) how often the individual cask has been used to mature Scotch and c) whether the cask is made from European oak or American oak. This makes it difficult to identify the mature products of individual distilleries.
Since at least the 1880s, blenders have identified different styles of whisky coming from different parts of Scotland. The original division, dating from the 1780s, was between ‘Lowland’ whisky and ‘Highland’ whisky. Then the whiskies made in Campbeltown and Islay were discerned to be different, and the whiskies of Speyside were added to the list.
With the dramatic growth of interest in single malt whiskies since the 1980s, the ‘Highland’ region has been sub-divided into Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern and Islands.
In truth, regional differences in the style and flavour of malt whiskies has more to do with tradition (how a malt is made in one place or another) than terroir, and although it is not possible to make a malt with identical character to another in a different distillery, it is possible to imitate a regional style out-with the region in question.
Did you know?
- more than one billion bottles of Scotch are exported every year, with France the biggest market
- the first reference to Scotch whisky was in 1495
- the first single malt to be marketed outside Scotland was by Glenfiddich in 1963
Typical Character and Style of Single Malt
Malt
Vanilla
Oak
Nutmeg
Dried Fruit
Smoke
Filter By
Price Range (£1,000 to £150,000)
Bottling Status (1 selected)
Region
Distillery/Brand
Flavour Profile
Age
Vintage
Cask Type
Single Cask
Bottler
Series
Strength
Size
Limited Edition
Colouring
Talisker 198527 Year Old
£1,750
(£2,500 per litre)
Mortlach 194951 Year Old Sherry Cask Gordon & MacPhail
£4,000
(£5,714.29 per litre)
Dufftown-Glenlivet 197521 Year Old Rare Malts
£1,000
(£1,428.57 per litre)
Ardbeg 25 Year Old2021 Release
£1,000
(£1,428.57 per litre)
Glen Moray 196026 Year Old
£1,500
(£2,000 per litre)
Glenmorangie 197525 Year Old Cote De Nuits
£1,750
(£2,500 per litre)
Ardbeg 30 Year Old
£2,500
(£3,571.43 per litre)
Port Ellen 197831 Year Old 10th Release (2010)
£3,250
(£4,642.86 per litre)
Glen Grant 196547 Year Old Gordon & MacPhail
£1,500
(£2,142.86 per litre)
Ardbeg 1975Bot.2000
£1,750
(£2,500 per litre)
Port Ellen 197932 Year Old 12th Release (2012)
£4,500
(£6,428.57 per litre)
Springbank 21 Year Old Set3 Bottles
£2,100
(£1,000 per litre)
Springbank Local Barley Set4 Bottles
£2,100
(£750 per litre)
Springbank 12 Year Old Cask Strength Set4 Bottles
£1,200
(£428.57 per litre)
Glen Grant 197224 Year Old Signatory
£1,000
(£1,428.57 per litre)
Convalmore 1975Bot.2015 Rare Old Gordon & MacPhail
£1,500
(£2,142.86 per litre)
Ardbeg 197521 Year Old Cadenhead's
£2,000
(£2,857.14 per litre)
Bunnahabhain 196738 Year Old Duncan Taylor
£1,250
(£1,785.71 per litre)
Balblair 1965Cask 0894 Bot.2008
£1,750
(£2,500 per litre)
Port Ellen 197618 Year Old First Cask #4780
£1,000
(£1,428.57 per litre)
Port Ellen 1979Bot.1994 Connoisseurs Choice
£1,100
(£1,571.43 per litre)
Brora 198120 Year Old Cask #575 Signatory
£1,200
(£1,714.29 per litre)
Longmorn-Glenlivet 1968Scott's Selection
£2,500
(£3,333.33 per litre)
Longmorn-Glenlivet 1968Bot.2004 Scott's Selection
£2,500
(£3,333.33 per litre)