Must know Scotch Terms - 1

I love my hobby of reading and appreciating the Scotch which is giving me a great kick (at times also the opportunity to show off amongst friends). This lovely drink which so far was only a means to relax in the evening and a way to connect with friends is now becoming a topic of academic interest for me.

Here are some of the common terms we should be aware of. 

What is the difference between Whisky and Whiskey?

The spelling of the term "whisky" is often debated by journalists and consumers. Scottish and Canadian whiskies use "whisky", Irish whiskies use "whiskey", while American and other styles vary in their spelling of the term.

What is ABV

I always thought it is alcohol by Volume....more the alcohol, higher does one Volume becomes while conversing ;)
Luckily above statement is not true. ABV or sometimes simply "Vol depicts Alcoholic strength. Typically, bottled whisky is between 40% and 46% ABV. Whisky is considerably stronger when first emerging from the cask—normally 60–63% ABV. Water is then added to create the desired bottling strength. If the whisky is not diluted before bottling, it can be labelled as cask strength. The Black Dog 12 year old Scotch which I am sipping now is 42.8% ABV

How to read the Scotch Label?

The label always features a declaration of the malt or grain whiskies used. A single malt Scotch whisky is one that is entirely produced from malt in one distillery. One may also encounter the term "single cask", signifying the bottling comes entirely from one cask. The terms "blended malt" or "vatted malt" are interchangeable, and signify that single malt whisky from different distilleries are blended in the bottle. The Scotch Whisky Association declared that a mixture of single malt whiskies must be labelled a "blended malt". The use of the former terms "vatted malt" and "pure malt" is prohibited. The term "blended malt" is still debated, as some bottlers maintain that consumers confuse the term with "blended Scotch whisky", which contains some proportion of grain whisky.

More for tomorrow.