Talking to whisky beginners I often find the hardest part of getting into whisky isn't the price of a bottle, but often the language. I forget that I didn't know what all those words meant at one stage, which is a big part of why I make the videos I do.
So this is the page I'd send a mate who's just bought their first bottle of single malt and is a bit lost reading the back label.
Where I'd start
Watch Watch These 17 Minutes BEFORE Buying Whisky. I made it for exactly this.
Taste a couple of different styles next to each other. A smoky one and a fruity one is a good first pair, and my flavour guide has bottles for each.
Add a few drops of water. If whisky burns that's normal, and water helps heaps. I've got 7 tips for getting past the burn too.
Use your own words. If it reminds you of apple pie, write apple pie. The Flavour Tree is there for when you get stuck.
Don't stress about saying the names right. Roy from Aqvavitae and I did a whole video on the ones people get wrong, and it's one of my most watched, so you're in good company.
The words on the label, in plain English
Single malt: whisky made from malted barley at one distillery. It doesn't mean it came from one cask.
Blended Scotch: single malts mixed with grain whisky, like Johnnie Walker or Chivas. Not worse by default.
Blended malt: single malts from more than one distillery, with no grain whisky in it.
Single grain: from one distillery, made with other grains as well as malted barley, usually in a column still. Often lighter and sweeter.
Age statement: the age on the bottle is the youngest whisky in it. A 12 year old can have older whisky in there too.
NAS: no age statement. It doesn't mean bad, they've just chosen not to put a number on it. All Scotch has to be at least three years old anyway.
ABV: alcohol by volume. Scotch has to be at least 40%, and a lot of it sits between 40% and 46%.
Cask strength: bottled straight from the cask without watering it down, so often 50 to 60% or more. Add water.
Ex-bourbon cask: an American oak barrel that held bourbon first. Vanilla, honey, orchard fruit and a bit of citrus.
Sherry cask: a cask seasoned with sherry, usually oloroso or PX (Pedro Ximénez). Dried fruit, Christmas cake, nuts and spice. I did a whole video on sherry casks.
First fill: the first time a cask is used for Scotch after it held bourbon or sherry, so there's more flavour left in the wood. It's where the channel name comes from too, here's the long version.
Finish: the whisky spent some extra time in a different cask at the end, like a port or wine cask finish.
Peated: the barley was dried over peat smoke, which gives smoky, medicinal flavours. PPM (phenol parts per million) measures the peat in the barley, but it doesn't line up neatly with how smoky the whisky tastes.
Non-chill-filtered: not chilled and filtered before bottling, so more of the oils and texture stay in. It can go a bit cloudy when you add water, that's fine.
Natural colour: no caramel colouring added. Scotch is allowed to use E150a to keep the colour consistent, and plenty of brands do.
Nose, palate and finish: what you smell, what you taste, and how long it hangs around after you swallow.
Dram: a pour of whisky. There's no set size.
Neat: just the whisky, no ice or mixer. A splash of water is still fine.
Regions: Speyside, Highlands, Lowlands, Islay and Campbeltown, with the islands usually lumped in with the Highlands. A good starting point, but they don't tell you as much about flavour as they used to. Here's the five regions explained.
Independent bottler: a company that buys casks from distilleries and bottles them under its own label.
Single cask: whisky from one cask, so every bottling is a bit different.
Videos for beginners
And on the blog there's how to taste whisky in three steps, what single malt actually means, whisky vs bourbon and how to enjoy whisky without the burn. If you want to try it all out properly, there's a free tasting you can do at home along with my videos.
Quick answers
How do I start learning about Scotch whisky?
Taste a couple of different styles side by side, add a few drops of water and describe it in your own words. Pick up the label words as you go, you don't need them all on day one.
Do I need to know tasting notes to enjoy whisky?
No. Start broad, is it fruity or smoky, light or rich, and get more specific later if you want to.
Is it okay to add water or ice to Scotch?
Yes. A few drops of water often opens a whisky up and takes the burn off. Ice is fine too, it just dulls the flavour a bit.
What's a good first Scotch?
Something unpeated and fruity is an easy start, like Glencadam 10 or Arran 10. Then try a smoky one next to it and see which way you lean.
Slàinte,
Phil
