What is "Scotch Whisky"?

The term "Scotch Whisky" can be best explained by breaking it down into its components. "Whisky" comes from the Gaelic for "water of life" - "uisce beatha". The term occurs both in Scottish and Irish, and where you're from determines the pronunciation (not to mention whether you spell it whiskey or whisky). Whisky, summed up, is a spirit distilled from grain or malted grain, matured in oak for a time prescribed by the controlled designation of origin, and bottled at between 40% ABV (80 proof) to 80% ABV (160 proof). In the case the controlled designation of origin of Scotch, the spirit must be 100% barley, matured in wood for no fewer than 3 years + 1 day, with each step of production occurring in Scotland. Scotch itself can be divided into four categories: 

1. Single Malt/Grain, which designates each step of production occurred at a single facility.

2. Blended Malt/Grain, which designates a blend of 100% malt OR grain procured from more than one facility.

3. Blended Scotch Whisky, which designates a blend of both grain AND malt from more than one facility.

4. Independent Bottlings, which can be single malts/grains, or blends of any type, that are purchased either from the still as new make, or purchased at any point in the maturation process in the cask, by a company that has a vested interest in producing an expression of a whisky which may not be available from the facility which distilled the spirit. These are then bottled independently under the name of that company.

Single malts/grains are also often designated by a region of origin, which refers to one of the 6 Regions of Scotch Whisky. Those are:

1. Lowland

2. Highland

3. Speyside

4. Island

5. Islay

6. Campbeltown

Blends can also be designated by a region of origin, but this is not required as blends are concocted of components from multiple distilleries, which may or may not be spread across multiple regions.

Featured below are whiskies across all of these categories which are proudly represented (and highly recommended) by The League of Good Spirits.