Wine & Spirits
Scotch 101
Scotch whisky is a malt or grain whisky, or a blend of both, made in Scotland. In Gaelic, it’ s called uisge-beatha na h-Alba, which roughly translates to water of life. Keep reading to learn more about Scotch.
HISTORY
The earliest record of distillation in Scotland is in 1494, when the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland recorded eight bolls of malt given to Friar John Cor to make aquae vitae( also water of life) the previous year. That would be enough for about 1,500 bottles, suggesting that although this was the first mention, distillation of Scotch whisky was already commonplace. Scotch was first taxed by parliament in 1644. Naturally, that led to a rise in illicit distilleries, especially from the Highlands. Highland authorities tended to turn a blind eye toward unlicensed distillers, as most of them were their tenants and Scotch sold meant rents paid. In 1823, Parliament eased restrictions on licensed distilleries and, at the same time, cracked down on illegal stills. That year, 2,232,000 gallons of whisky had taxes paid; the next year, with new laws in effect, that doubled.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, manufacturing was made easier by the invention and widespread use of the column still, which turned out more affordable, smoother whisky. Around the same time, there was a shortage of wine and brandy from France, leading to a surge in demand. The number of distilleries boomed all the way until they were adversely affected by World War I and the Great Depression.
SCOTCH TODAY Today, more than 100 whisky distilleries are operating in Scotland. Scotch comes in five categories: single malt, single grain, blended malt and blended grain. Single malt Scotch must be distilled at a single distillery as a batch process using pot still distillation and made from a mash of 100 % malted barley. It cannot be blended elsewhere from other distilleries. It must have been distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks for at least three years.
Single-grain Scotch is distilled at a single distillery in Scotland, but it may have whole grains of other malted or unmalted cereals. Single doesn’ t refer to the grain here; instead, it means that it came from only one distillery. Singlegrain whisky can be distilled continuously in continuous stills or column stills.
Blended malt whisky used to be known as vatted malt or pure malt. It’ s one of the most common types of Scotch. It’ s a blend of single malts from two or more distilleries. It can contain no grain whisky and cannot have the word malt on the bottle. Blended grain whisky has at least two single grain Scotch whiskies from at least two distilleries, combined to create one batch of whisky.
Blended Scotch makes up about 90 % of the whisky made today. These whiskies contain both malt and grain whisky, combined to make a consistent brand style. Some labels of blended whiskies include Ballantine’ s, Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark, Dewar’ s and Vat 69.
Madison Magazine September-October 2026 15