I’m not entirely sure why the rules were changed but it’ll certainly add a small little twist to each, here are the stats of Batch #1 of Laphroaig’s Cask Strength:
Batch 1 Facts
ABV: 57.8%/115.6 proof
Batch Date: February 2007
Tasting Notes: A full blast of massive peat smoke and seashore salt leads to a fading sweetness at the finish.
Batch Quantity: 5,100 bottles

Whisky can range in proof, starting at 80 proof, but we’ll stick with some simple math. Let’s go with 80 proof, or 40% alcohol, which gives us 16.68 grams of alcohol. If each gram has 7 calories, we know now that a shot of whisky has about 116.76 calories.

If you have a 43% ABV whisky, that’s 125.517 calories.

And if you drink a cask strength whisky at 60% ABV, then you’re talking a whopping 175.14 calories.

As it turns out, the original spelling of the spirit is whisky without the ‘e.’ However, sometime in the 1800s, American distilleries wanted to differentiate their product, produced in similar fashion, from the Scottish version. In general, Scotch Whisky is spelled without an ‘e’ and any other whiskey (Canadian, Irish, etc.) is spelled with an ‘e.’ It’s unclear where the Japanese single malts fit in as they go without the ‘e.’ (Yamazaki for example)

Of course, this is not a rule followed universally and there’s no way to enforce it. In fact, a Boozin’ Blog they looked at the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms guidelines, to see if they required any nomenclature rules, and saw no consistency either.

In the end, tradition and ceremony dictates that Scotch is whisky without an ‘e’ and everything else has an ‘e.’

When whisky is made, it’s stored in casks, or barrels, for many years. This new make whisky, as it’s called, can have an alcohol content anywhere from 60%-75%, depending on distillation. It’s potent stuff. As it matures, it loses some of its potency, known as the angel’s share. When it’s removed, depending on how old it is, it can still have a fairly high percentage of alcohol.

Normally distilled water is added to normalize the alcohol content to the standard bottling levels, however sometimes they normalize it at a might higher alcohol content for cask strength bottlings. For example, The Macallan Cask Strength, which has no age statement, has an alcohol by volume of 58.5%.

Is cask strength better? That’s debatable. At 58.5%, the burn of alcohol overpowers many of the subtle flavors in scotch. However, some people like the idea that you can get a taste of what it’s like straight out of the barrel, before water is added to bring it down to more pedestrian alcohol by volume levels. You can adjust it to your liking, instead of accepting the more standard levels of 43% or 40%.

I think it’s worth a try but unless you like your nose hairs singed off, I’d avoid getting a whole bottle.

Avoid Light, Air, Heat

The enemies of Scotch, like its younger cousin beer, are light, air, and heat. The key to storing your Scotch so that it remains unchanged is to minimize its contact to all three:

• Why does light affect Scotch? Unlike beer, which is usually bottled in dark brown bottles, Scotch is generally stored in lighter colored bottles, usually clear, to show of its amazing radiant color. Beer is stored in dark bottles to protect it from light, which changes the chemical composition of hops. When you boil hops, it releases/produces isohumulones, aka isomerized alpha acids, which produces the same chemicals that skunks spray when they come into contact with visible or UV light (hence the term “skunked beer”). Scotch is less affected by this but it still is a factor.
• Why does air affect Scotch? The reason air affects Scotch has to do with oxidation, the same reason it affects wines and other spirits once they’ve been open.
• Why does heat affect Scotch? It’s really a mixture of heat and humidity but it has to do with evaporation. Scotch, unlike wine, doesn’t mature in the bottle so there’s really not an “ideal” temperature (unlike wine, which is said to mature best between 55° and 60°F). You want to keep it fairly cool because a higher, dryer temperature will result in faster evaporation if the seal of the cork is not 100%.

How to Store Scotch Whisky

Knowing that light, air and heat will all change your spirit, the key is to find a cool dark place to store your Scotch. I keep mine in glass cases in the basement and I store my bottles upright. The reason wine is stored sideways on racks is because you want to keep the wine corks in contact with the wine. As wine ages, the corks will crack and keeping them in contact with the wine will help them retain moisture. With Scotch, it’s recommended that you store it upright because the higher alcohol content can degrade the cork.

Once a bottle is opened, you introduce air into the mix and oxidation begins. In general, you can keep a bottle of scotch around for about a year (though I wouldn’t toss it unless it tastes bad) after it’s been opened, longer if you suck the air out of the bottle. If you get down to the last few drams, be aware that there’s more air inside now and the timeline shortens.

So keep it dark and cool (and sealed!) and you should be fine however you store it.

(Photo: darklife, I know it’s not technically Scotch but I liked the presentation in the photo.)

If you know those, you’re in pretty good shape. How about Bruichladdich? Caol Ila?

Now, visit this website and play all the names. They have an audio file for a lot of distilleries (many of the majors, most of the smaller ones too) in both .wav and .au, though some are only in .au file format.

How many did you get right? If you got the pronunciation right did you accent the right syllable? Glenmorangie is easy to say but I bet you accent the wrong syllable like I did.

Learn how to pronounce scotch whisky names from an expert.

One of the biggest factors, besides the maturity time, has to do with the type of wood the barrels are made of. The wood itself is almost always oak, though at times spiritmakers have experimented with other hardwoods. With oak, you have two options – French Oak and American Oak. In many years past, the differences between the two were more pronounced as French Oak, with its tighter grains, imparted its flavor more slowly. However, as American coopering started adopting some of the French coopering practices (splitting staves along the grain and air-dry seasoning for 24 months), the differences have diminished over time.

Having sampled Macallan’s new make whisky (what goes into each barrel), I can definitely say that the aging process in the barrels really gives scotch its depth of flavor.

The above is a Whisky Tasting Wheel taken from Whisky Magazine, via Scotch Blog, and I posted it here because it’s one of several “whisky wheels” out there. Whisky wheels are great because the fun in sampling different whiskies is in finding the subtle aromas and flavors. It’s hard to know what to look for if you don’t have a map, especially when you’re a novice like me, so having a wheel available can help. I wouldn’t get too carried away though, as trying to smell fresh laundry or hot sand (both are in the Sandy part in the Sulphury wedge) might leave you more confused than anything else.

When I enjoyed the Laphroaig last week, I could distinctly smell the medicinal aroma, which makes sense in such a peaty scotch. But looking back, I didn’t get any tar, diesel oil, or seaweed (not that I was supposed to).

In the end, the whole experience of enjoying whisky is very personal and everyone’s palate is different, so while this should give you diesel, don’t sweat it if you can’t get the flavors you read in some tasting notes.

“look for single malts between 12 and 18 years old that come in at $50 to $80.” This way there is some measure of quality as you aren’t ending up with something made for the sake of being inexpensive.

I think that’s solid advice, you can’t go wrong going into a store with that approach.

From there, they picked four bottles for the under $70 group, four for the $70 to $100 range, and two in the over $100. Each choice comes with an idea of what’s captured within the bottle, what it goes well with, and it’s important to match those up with whatever notes you’ve taken about the person its for.

If you know they hate peatiness or smoke, then going all out for a Lagavulin, even at $125 a bottle, is going to be less effective than if you bought a Macallan 12 at $90. It’ll also show you’ve been listening… which is always good right?

Did you know that a barrel has a standard volume of 36 gallons? I didn’t, I figured barrel was a general term for a container of that general size and shape. Well, to make things more interesting, there are actually many varying sizes of “barrels,” some of which have very funny names:

• Firkin – 9 gallons
• Kilderkin – 18 gallons
• Barrel – 36 gallons
• Hogshead – 54 gallons
• Butt – 108 gallons
• Tun – 216 gallons

Firkin – It’s an old English term derived from a Middle Dutch word vierdekijn, which means fourth. It’s appropriate because a firkin is a fourth of a barrel in volume.

Kilderkin – Again an old English term derived from Dutch but it doesn’t mean half, it just means small cask, but it is a half barrel.

Hogshead – I wasn’t able to find the origin of the term but it was standardized as 54 gallons by an act of Parliament in 1423.

Butt – This size in wine is called a pipe, so when The Balvenie Portwood Finish 21 states it was finished in Port pipes, it means barrels of this size.

Tun – It sounds like ton because it shares the same origin though the latter refers only to mass/weight.

It’s always interesting to learn a little bit of trivia!

(Photo: schlaeger)