[BITList] SCOTCH

[John Feltham]

Mandates for a whisky to be called Scotch whisky are:

1.      Distilled in Scotland.
2.      Casked in Scotland.
3.      Aged 3 years and 1 day in Scotland.
4.      There is no requirement for a barrel of whisky that meets these criteria to be bottled in Scotland. 26 brands of Scotch are bottled in India. 
v Some 20 million casks, over 500 million cases, are maturing in warehouses in Scotland. This represents the equivalent of approximately 10 billion bottles of Scotch after bottling.
v Scotch is sold in more than 200 markets globally.   
v Scotch sells three times its nearest foreign whisky rival.
v A closed bottle of Scotch can be kept for 100 years+ and will still be good to drink.
v After opening, a half-full bottle of Scotch whisky will remain good for five years.
v The most expensive bottle of Scotch whisky today is Isabella’s Islay ($6.2 Million).
v The oldest Scotch whisky on the market is the Aisla T’Orten 107 Years old, distilled in 1906 and available for $ 1.43 million (£870,000).
v The highest price paid at an auction for a bottle of Scotch Whisky is $631,850 for a  6-liter The Macallan “M” Decanter by Lalique, containing a 44.7% ABV Single Malt.
v The highest price paid at an auction for a standard sized Scotch Whisky is £288,000 (US$460,000) for a 64-year-old 42.5 % ABV Macallan malt whisky.
v Glenfiddich is the largest selling single malt in the world, followed by the Glenlivet.
v Johnnie Walker Red Label is the world's largest selling Scotch whisky.
v Johnnie Walker’s premium whisky was originally known as 'John Walker’s Extra Special Old Highland'. It was renamed Johnnie Walker Black Label in 1909.
v Johnnie Walker Black Label is the world's best-selling deluxe whisky.
v The Famous Grouse is now the most popular Scotch whisky in UK, displacing Bell’s.
v Mclelland’s (part of Suntory’s Bowmore) is the fifth most popular single malt Scotch whisky in the U.S.A.
v Experts advise you to drink Single Malt whisky neat or with a tiny bit of water.  The water supposedly ‘Releases the Serpent’ from the whisky.
v If there is a serpent, there is also an Angel. As it ages, 2.0-2.5 % of the whisky maturing in a barrel is lost to evaporation every year. Distillers refer to this as the ‘angel’s share’.
v But the Devil has the last word. The larger the barrel used to mature whisky, the more the spirit that is absorbed by the wood and lost, called by distillers the ‘Devil’s Cut’.
v The most expensive country in which to buy Scotch is where it’s made, the UK.
v Although their proof differs, standard drinks of beer, wine and spirits (liquor) contain an equivalent amount of alcohol – 0.6 ounces each. They’re all the same to a breathalyzer.
v Glenturret is the oldest distillery in Scotland (1775), followed by Bowmore (1779). 
v Glenturret, Oban and Glenlivet are the three oldest malt whiskies currently sold.
v William Lawson’s blended Scotch, a relatively unknown brand, is a bestseller in Russia.
v 18,000 litres of Scotch whisky worth over $800,000 (£ 500,000) were accidentally flushed down the drain at Chivas Brothers’ Dumbarton bottling plant of in March 2013.
v Earlier, Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse in Catrine village had spilled 6,600 litres of whisky on 6 September 2011− mostly into the River Ayr. They were fined £12,000.
v There are a total of 109 distilleries in Scotland, 102 malt and 7 grain or multipurpose, according to the research briefings and fact sheets presented to the UK Parliament.
v In the UK, the five most popular Scotch blended Whiskies are The Famous Grouse, William Grant’s, Bell’s, Teacher’s and J&B Rare. Johnnie Walker does not feature in the list of bestselling blends in its home country.
v The five most popular Scotch Malt Whiskies globally are Glenmorangie Original, Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet, Aberlour and Laphroaig.
v With each bottle of Laphroaig that you buy, you are gifted a lifetime lease of one sq ft of the distillery’s land, along with a personalized certificate of ownership.
    LVMH’s Glenmorangie distillery is one of the smallest in the Highlands and employs just sixteen craftsmen – ‘The Sixteen Men of Tain’ - who have become synonymous with the Glenmorangie brand all over the world.
    Edradour is the smallest distillery in Scotland - Three people run the entire operation.
    The fastest growing Scotch whisky in the world over the last five years is Black Dog. India is a major contributor to its sales.
    The Australian Wine Research Institute has introduced a measure called a standard drink. In Australia, a standard drink contains 10 g (12.67 ml) of alcohol, the amount that an average adult male can metabolize in one hour.
     Japanese owned Tomatin is the largest capacity distillery in Scotland.
    Haig’s Pinch(Dimple) is the fourth largest blended Deluxe Scotch whisky in the world.
    Persian authorities were required to rule twice on a case; once when stone cold sober    
  and again when intoxicated, in the belief of ‘in vino veritas’.
             
v Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop on Canongate, when owned by the Cadenhead family, was Scotland’s oldest independent bottler till taken over by J & A Mitchell & Co. Ltd. in 1972. The name remains unchanged, even though Mitchell & Co bottle and sell Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn Single Malt whiskies, along with Campbeltown Loch and Mitchell's 12 year old. Its unique selling point is that customers can have a bottle poured straight from a cask and labeled with a person’s name. When sealed it has a label with the ‘born on date’, as whisky stops aging as soon as it leaves the wooden barrel so each bottle is a unique blend.
v The source of the name Auchentoshan is Gaelic. It means 'corner of the field'.
v Auchentoshan was probably started by Irish settlers, led by the MacBeathas.
v Some sources claim that these Irish whisky distillers brought the Irish custom of triple distillation with them. Auchentoshan uses triple distillation.
v Antique records from the year 1800 mention an (illegal) Duntocher distillery, which may have been a predecessor to the legal Auchentoshan distillery. A license for distillation was obtained in 1823.
v The ‘e’ in whiskey: Scotch whisky is always spelled without an ‘e’. Most other nations such as United States and Ireland call their similar spirits Whiskey. A very simple way to remember the spelling: if it comes from a country without an ‘e’ in its spelling, then its spelt Whisky. (e.g., Scotland, Japan, India, Canada, etc.).
v Bruichladdich’s The Octomore is the heaviest peated whisky in the world at 167ppm. 
v The Macallan claims that it has achieved success and fame through its ‘Six Pillars’, viz., Spiritual Home, Curiously Small Stills, Finest Cut, Exceptional Oak Casks, Natural Color and The Macallan itself. It has released five expressions in honor of its pillars so far, starting in 2005; the 50, 55, 57, 60 and 62-year-old single malts in bespoke Lalique crystal. The 62nd was released on December 17, 2013 at a price of US$ 26,000.
v Scottish Spirits: Scotch in A Can
Each can of Scottish Spirits will contain 12 ounces--about six shots--of 80 proof ‘single grain Scotch whisky, or 72° proof UK,’ distilled and matured for three years in oak casks in Scotland. While many are calling this a rip off, SWA is more guarded. The latex lid, (patent pending) produced especially for Scottish Spirits, will allow the can to be resealed and the product to be kept fresh and tasting great. Diehard Scotch drinkers will no doubt protest at this ‘blasphemous act’, but are unlikely to affect the outcome.
 v 95% of whisky manufactured in India is called Rum overseas. That’s because most Indian whiskies are made from molasses.
v The largest market in the world for whisky is India.
v CSD rates for Black Dog, Teachers, 100 Pipers, The Glenlivet, Vat 69, etc., are LOWER THAN duty free prices.
v Scotch glasses are balloon shaped, not the shot glasses we all use.
v 95% of Indian whisky drinkers don’t know the difference between Blended whiskies and Single Malts.
v Whenever you see the world Single on the label of a bottle of Scotch whisky, it means that whisky is the product of ONE distillery. Most Single Malts, like Glenfiddich, are actually blends of 15-50 malts manufactured by that company in ONE distillery.
v There are 5 types of Scotch: Single Malts (e.g., Glenfiddich), Blended Scotch (Johnny Walker series), Single Grain(Cambus 1991), Blended Grain(Hedonism Blended Grain Whisky) and Blended Malts(Ardbeg’s ‘Serendipity', created by mixing vats of Ardbeg and Glen Moray malt whiskies).
 v Scotch in A Can:
 Scotch whisky is now being sold in a can in the United States, putting a liquor prized for its pedigree into a humble container known for its affordability and portability. Johnnie Walker has released Red Label Blended Scotch Whisky with Soda, which will be available in both 345ml bottle and 375ml can formats. Cola mixes are at or below 5% ABV.
v Approximately 15 percent of Scotch whisky is bottled overseas.
v Glenfiddich buys German Oak casks and sends them to Jerez, Spain. A sherry-maker is paid rent to make a ‘fino’ sherry in this cask and bottle it in 2 yrs. The cask is brought back to Scotland and filled with a brand new make of raw malted whisky and matured for 10-15 years. The end result is an expensive Scotch whisky. Macallan does the same, except that at 10-12 years, the whisky is shifted for another 2-5 years into once-used American bourbon casks that last held Oloroso sherry.  The end result is a bloody expensive Scotch whisky, most popular in China for corporate gifts.
v 90% of Scotch sold is Blended Scotch. Some drinkers have just realized that Single Malts are far superior to blends and that much more expensive.
v Old Smuggler, Vat 69, Black and White, Haig, Cutty Sark are examples of 3-year old Scotch whiskies. Pig’s Nose, Cutty Sark rare, Mackinlay, Famous Grouse, Black Bottle, Red Label are all 5-yr olds.
v Red Label contains 12% Talisker single malt.
v Most blends have 65-70% Grain whisky (made from wheat, rye or maize+ 10% barley), 25-30% malt whisky and 0-5% neutral alcohol.
v Whisky bottled in Scotland is only 70 proof (40% alcohol by volume, ABV) and sold in 700 cc bottles. Elsewhere, it is 75 proof (42.8% ABV) and sold in 750 cc bottles.
v The more exclusive single malts tend to be SINGLE-SINGLE, i.e., a single malt from a single barrel. These are normally bottled at cask strength, i.e., 56-63% ABV. These hit you hard! I have one 60% ABV bottle.
v I bought 2 Glenmorangies-one Ealanta and one Nectar d’ Or @ $43 each in 2011. LVMH bought off Glenmorangie. Now those two bottles cost $ 90 and 77 respectively.
 



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