A Quick Overview of Whisky

Obviously there are many different types of whisky in the world: Scotch, Irish, American, Canadian and more. But in Britain, when we talk about whisky we usually mean ‘Scotch’. This is different from American-style whiskies like Jack Daniels, which we usually call ‘Bourbon’.

The place where whisky is made is called a distillery. There are many distilleries all over Scotland. On our English language course we take you to the only whisky distillery on the Isle of Skye, which is where they make a whisky called Talisker. We are given a special private tour where you are told about the whisky-making process and allowed to taste 5 different types of whisky.

You will also learn about the general types of whisky in Scotland. Again, there are many many differences but these are there are probably 4 big generalisations: a ‘blend’; a ‘single malt’; Islay (pron. /ai-lǝ/) and Speyside.

Single Malt
A single malt whisky is one that is made from ONE particular grain at ONE particular distillery. It must be aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 3 years and 1 day, though usually they are matured for at least 10.

Blend
A blended whisky is a mixture of more than one single malt. They usually mix different grains from different distilleries. The result is often an easy-drinking whisky but is generally less sophisticated than single malts.

Islay
This is a whisky-making region of Scotland. It is an island which has 8 distilleries. The whisky from here often has a ‘peaty’ flavour. [‘Peat’ is basically ‘carbon’ and a ‘peaty flavour’ is a combination of smoke and earth].

Speyside
This is the area of Scotland that has the largest number of distilleries. There is LOTS of whisky made here and they all taste different. However, a ‘typical’ Speyside whisky often has a honey-like flavour.

This is definitely not a complete guide to whisky in Scotland. But on our courses we will talk about the differences much more!