Photo credit: Danny McManus
The Scotch whisky industry has been built on a bedrock of blends. Yet single cask bottlings are becoming more prevalent. Barbara Drew MW explains what single casks are, and why they’re so special.
Whisky, it’s said, is about the art of the blend. Around 90% of all Scotch whisky is blended whisky and there is great skill required to produce it. Blended whiskies are made up of spirits from different distilleries, created in stills of all shapes and sizes. These spirits are then aged for differing lengths of time in a multiplicity of casks. The resulting blend of up to 100 different whiskies leads to a liquid of depth, complexity and breadth. It takes decades for blenders to master their art and choosing, or training, a new blender is a nerve-wracking decision for any distillery.
But even single malt whiskies – representing just a small proportion of overall Scotch whisky production – are blends. This could be a blend of different ages of whiskies, with spirits that have been sat gently ageing in cask for 20 years adding depth and complexity to spirits which are 15 years old. It could be a blend of different finishes to add complexity. Or simply a blend of multiple barrels to create a complex and layered spirit. The key is to maintain a classic house style, no matter whether a spirit is 40 years old, or 14 years old.
So what, then, are we to make of single cask
This Article was originally published on Barry's Wine Blog
