Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch. 

For our next tasting, I decide to give my bar tools a rest, sit back, relax, and sample some Scotches. Scotch is a type of whisky that is distilled and casked in Scotland. It is one of the few liquors that is completely affected by the environment. When casked, much of it evaporates and absorbs whatever flavors are in the air. There are five different whisky regions in Scotland: Lowland, Speyside, Highland, Campbeltown, and Islay. Scotches are also differentiated by whether they are single malts or blends. Single malts are produced from a single distillery, while blends contain two or more single malts from different distilleries. I decided to have us sample four single malts and three blends. We tried each of the following both neat and on the rocks.  Alcohol is an anesthetic so some taste buds are numbed drinking it straight.  The ice/water helps dilute some of the alcohol and bring out the flavors.  Whether you like to drink scotch straight up or on the rocks, it really comes down to preference.

Single Malts

The Glenrothes

Overall we found this single malt from the Speyside region to be very smooth, but lacking in flavor and depth. 

Glenfarclas

Another single malt from the Speyside region, we found this Scotch to be much more flavorful than The Glenrothes, with warm and spicy notes of honey, vanilla, butter and cinnamon.  One of our favorites.

Oak Cross 

This single malt from the Highlands is unique because it is casked in an American oak barrel with a French wood cover on top. We found that it contained smooth notes of clove, vanilla and fruit in the beginning, but was not as interesting on the finish. 

Kilchoman

This single malt from Islay is a strong scotch with a salty flavor and a lot of complexity.  Definitely for those with specific tastes and the more advanced scotch drinker.

Blends

Johnnie Walker Black Label

This scotch is a blend of about 40 whiskies, each aged at least 12 years. We found it to be sweeter than most of the single malts we tried. 

Johnnie Walker Double Black Label

This unique new addition to the Johnnie Walker line was created to be smokier and peatier than the Black Label, and while we did find that, we agreed that it didn’t add quite enough to warrant buying it all the time.

Famous Grouse

We found this blend to be perfumy, with citrus notes.

With so many scotches to chose from, we recommend sampling a few (perhaps not seven in one night…) and finding your own favorite to enchoi.