Whiskies Top Ten

Scotch Malt Whiskey's Top 10

Scotch Whiskey's are generally distilled twice, though some are distilled a third time. International laws require anything bearing the label "Scotch" to be distilled in Scotland and matured for a minimum of three years and one day in oak casks, among other, more specific criteria. If Scotch whisky is from more than one cask, and if it includes an age statement on the bottle, it must reflect the age of the youngest whiskey in the blend. Many cask-strength single malts omit the age as they use younger elements in minute amounts for flavouring and mellowing. The basic types of Scotch are Malt and Grain, which are combined to create blends. While the market is dominated by blends, the most highly prized of Scotch Whiskey's are the single malts. Scotch Whiskey's are divided into five main regions: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Speyside and Campbeltown. is whiskey made entirely from malted barley and distilled in an onion-shaped pot still.

Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery. However, unless the whiskey is described as "single-cask" it will contain whisky from many casks, and different years, so the blender can achieve a taste recognisable as typical of the distillery. In most cases, the name of a single malt will be that of the distillery (The Glenlivet, Bushmills, Yoichi), with an age statement and perhaps some indication of some special treatments such as maturation in a port wine cask.

Blended Whiskey's are made from a mixture of Malt and Grain whiskies. A whiskey simply described as Scotch Whiskey or Irish Whiskey is most likely to be a blend in this sense. A blend is usually from many distilleries so that the blender can produce a flavour consistent with the brand, and the brand name (e.g. Chivas Regal, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Canadian Club) will usually not therefore contain the name of a distillery. However, "Blend" can (less frequently) have other meanings. A mixture of malts (with no grain) from different distilleries (more usually called a vatted malt) may sometimes be referred to as a "Blended Malt", and a mixtures of grain whiskey's with no malts will sometimes carry the designation "Blended Grain".

Top 10

1	Bunnahabhain	12 year old
2	Benriach	16 year old
3	Old Pulteney	12 year old
4	Bowmore	12 year old
5	Highland Park	12 year old
6	An conoc	12 year old
7	Laphroaig	10 year old
8	Macallan	10 year old
9	Talisker	10 year old
10	Auchentoshan	12 year old