I Stand Corrected

Interesting topic, @Victor . The whisky world is full of potential confusing terms or general assumptions. Staying on the topic of my recent review, you brought to mind this article on the possibly misleading meaning of "single cask"

@vanPelt, that was an interesting link about the meaning of "single cask" Scotch. I had never thought about the possibilities mentioned in that article. I don't really understand why they even bother with the fiction of the name "single cask" in cases where partially matured whisky from more than one cask has been blended together to further age in a 'single' cask.

I think a lot depends on what happens to the liquid in the last cask that houses it. I think there is a big difference between the following 3 scenarios:

1. The liquid is in the same cask for its entire maturation.

2. The liquid is "finished" in a cask for a certain time (6 mo to 3 years, or whatever). Here there may be contributions from a single cask or more likely (due to evaporation).

3. The contents of 2 or more casks are married for a short period of time in one cask before bottling.

Any of these products can be good, or any of these could be bad. Other factors come into play like dilution, filtration, etc...

I think the important thing is that the spirit in the bottle is good, and that the labelling ON the bottle is informative.

I don't care if my "single cask" came from one or more casks originally if it's good, but I also don't want to pay a premium for "single cask" if it isn't really a single cask.

The three that come to my mind are all disappointments, I'm afraid. Chronologically:

•In my earliest days as a serious whisky drinker, I was disappointed to learn how much water is a typical 40% ABV bottle of whisky.

•As I got my feet under me, I was disappointed to learn how much better (generally) Scottish whisky is compared to Irish. I'm full of Irish blood and I'd been "rooting" for my home team, so to speak, until I fully made my rounds.

•Later, when I knew enough to even consider the question, I was disappointed to learn that Connemara is NOT made with Irish peat.

Some information I'd like to share. This seems to be the right topic:

Why so many Peat distilleries on Islay? Traditional production methods employed over 100 years ago, when peat represented a cheaper fuel option than coal and many malts were peated all over Scotland. It was with the development of the rail roads that improved infrastructure meant that, certainly for mainland distilleries, it was more economical to use coal instead of peat to fire the kiln. As such most distillers switched from peat to kiln and the island distilleries continued to use peat, explaining why Islay malts, to this day, tend to be heavily peated. As (almost) always, it’s all about the money! Peat was cheap until rail roads were develop across the mainland and coal got cheaper. Fortunately Islay kept their peat!

As a novice i thought that all whiskies were distilled, put in barrels, aged and then bottled. The notion of single malt being an in-house ''blend'' from a specific distillery mixing barrels to obtain it's ''profile'' was almost shocking!

Islay & Island Whisky matured elsewhere? For a long time I thought whisky was always matured in the warehouse nearby the distillery. Then I searched for what type of warehouse? A Dunnage or Racked warehouse? It matters, The Legendary Vault No 1 at Bowmore is a Legend for a reason! In this search I learned surprisingly that some Islay and Island whisky isn't even matured on the island itself but on the Scottish mainland! A big part of Lagavulin, Talisker and all of Caol Ila is filled not into casks but into big tank lorries at the distilleries on a daily basis and shipped to the mainland to mature in a mainland warehouse! This is a big +1 for Ardbeg, Kilchoman and Bruichladdich who mature their whisky on Islay (please correct me if I’m wrong!).

I used to think that only good whisk(e)y is scotch, every thing else is an abomination - a poor replica of the real thing.

@Alexsweden I thought that companies producing blends carried malt whiskies in big tanks to their warehouses, but then found out they actually buy the barrels. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Until I came to Connosr, I thought whisky from my home and native land (Canada) was inferior swill, only fit to be drowned with Coke or Ginger Ale. Luckily, this community is full of people who were kind when disabusing me of this misperception. And I'm glad they corrected me; I've enjoyed some magnificent Canadian whisky in the last year or so. And my new-found love of rye is beginning to rival my love of peat and smoke !

@OdysseusUnbound, is that rye or "rye"?

@MadSingleMalt Rye, in the "contains rye grain" sense of the word. Honestly, for the longest time, I thought that rye was a different beverage altogether than whisky. In my college days, I often drank "rye" and Ginger, usually with a rye that contained very little actual rye. I've come around to loving actual rye-containing (and rye-dominant) rye whiskies.

@Ol_Jas - I'm replying to your comment a year late but have to say, never, ever, get a Scotsman and an Irishman discussing whisk(e)y!

On topic, I was surprised to discover most (or a high proportion of) grain in Scotch blends is wheat rather than corn. I really wish they would state which grain(s) they put in. I have a single cask bottle of Scotch grain and even that doesn't specify but will give the cask number?!

@RianC, FYI: Ol' Jas and I are one and the same. That used to be my handle on here back before you joined us.

As to rumors about my other alter-egos, I leave it up the reader to judge their veracity.

@MadSingleMalt - I think I knew that but thanks for confirming!

I really like the avatar for Ol_Jas - it has my initials :)

@RianC, thanks. I switched things around when I decided to act as the "face" of my club. But I gotta admit: I miss my old monogram avatar thing. (It's the monogram that JRR Tolkien used to use, modified to be my own initials.)