There are four types of Scotch whisky: malt whisky, grain whisky, blended whisky and blended malt whisky. To be called Scotch whisky, each type has to be matured in Scotland for a minimum of three years.
Malt whisky is produced from 100% malted barley, which is then fermented with yeast and distilled in batches through a pot still.
Grain whisky is made from a mix of mostly unmalted barley, wheat and maize. Grain whisky, unlike malt, is made in a continuous process and is generally produced for blending purposes.
Blended whisky is mainly made from a combination of malt and grain whiskies. Blended whisky was developed to meet the demand for a softer, lighter palatable whisky for the consumer.
Blended malt is now the adopted name for what was formerly known as vatted malt or pure malt. It is a mixture or blend of single malt whiskies from different distilleries.
A single malt whisky is a malt whisky produced from just one pot still distillery. It is possible for a single malt to come from a single distillery but with a mixture of batches from over the years.
A blend of single malt whiskies from two or more different distilleries.
The range of blended Scotch whiskies can be quite bewildering and come at various levels of quality and age. Many blends are available only in certain markets and may be totally unknown outside those designated markets. We include both well-known favourites and some little known brands.
A tiny proportion of grain whisky production from the 10 active and silent grain distilleries is bottled as single grain whiskies and is often extremely rare.
There are four official categories which we use on this web site: Lowland, Campbeltown, Islay and Highland. There are several sub-categories within the Highland main category, which accounts for about 90% of malt whisky production.
- Campbelltown
Originally known as the whisky capital of Scotland there were once 29 distilleries operating in and around this small West coast town. Only three survive – Glen Scotia, Springbank and Glengyle (re-opened in 2004) - yet it remains a separate category.
- Highland
This is the overarching category for all distilleries located north of the "Highland Line" which runs from just north of Glasgow diagonally north-eastwards across the country to just north of the east coast city of Dundee. The products of all pot malt distilleries, active and silent, located on or above this imaginary line are called Highland malts and there are roughly 95 of these. These are broken down into six informal sub-categories.
- Eastern
These are the 9 active and inactive distilleries around Aberdeen.
- Northern
These are the 17 active and now defunct distilleries running through the central and eastern Highlands between Fort William and Wick in the far north.
- Perthshire
These are the 8 distilleries located in the vicinity of Perth or just north of Glasgow.
- Speyside
These are the 55 distilleries located in the North–east of Scotland, many of them along the banks of the River Spey and its various tributaries, including the famous Livet, and in the general vicinity.
- The Islands
These are the 5 distilleries located on off-shore islands (other than Islay which is a separate category) plus the West coast distillery of Oban, which has many of the characteristics of an island distillery and does not fit readily into any other sub-category.
- Islay
The 8 distilleries on the Inner Hebrides island of Islay form a distinctive group whose products are in great demand as s ingle malts but also for blending, due to their strong peaty, often medicinal flavour.
- Lowland
The 10 distilleries – both active and extinct- which lie to the south of the Highland Line, other than the small number of Campbelltown distilleries which form a separate category.