Types of whisky

What is a Single Malt whisky?

To be qualified as a Single Malt, a whisky must meet 2 criteria. It must be produced with a single malted cereal. It must also come from a single distillery.We can also speak of Single Malt whisky when it comes from a blend of several malt whiskies, but still produced within the same distillery.

A Single Malt from a single ageing cask is called Single Cask. These are often high quality whiskies sold in limited edition and made without blending.

The difference between Single Malt and Blended Whisky

Blended and single malt whiskies are distinguished by their blending process. While single malt is made from the same grain and distillery, blended is a mixture of several whiskies from different distilleries.

Single malt once dominated the whisky market. Mass-produced barley enabled producers and distillers to produce a large number of bottles, all from the same grain and the same distillery. In the 19th century, Scottish delicatessens began to specialize in the sale of blends. They were even legally authorized to produce blended whisky in 1853. Single malt whisky fell into decline at the same time, due to the overproduction of blended whisky. The great Scottish distilleries changed the way they operated, adopting new processes and new production sites.

single grain whisky

Grain whisky is a spirit made from cereals other than malted barley. Wheat, rye, corn, buckwheat... are all used to create grain whisky.

This selection of cereals is used to create the whiskies you all know. Bourbon and rye whiskey are perfect examples. Bourbon is 51% corn and rye whiskey 51% rye.

What's more, compared with blended whisky, grain whisky is produced in a single distillery. That's why it's called single grain.

It is generally made in Scotland or Japan. Scotland played a key role in the emergence of grain whisky, with the creation of the patent still (column still).