FOOD & DRINK BEVERAGES
IS SCOTCH THE WORLD’S
MOST MISCAST LIBATION By Gaetano Marangelli
I
n his novels, Ian Fleming cast James Bond as a Scotch drinker. In their scripts and stories, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett’s hardboiled detectives consumed tumblers of Scotch. In his movies and his life, Humphrey Bogart drank Scotch. We’ve got an image of the classic Scotch Whisky drinker. We see a man. He likes danger. He doesn’t say please. He probably leaves the toilet seat up. We call his machismo old fashioned. Or is it just old? But Katherine Hepburn was a Scotch drinker. So was Dorothy Parker. And Igor Stravinsky, Winston Churchill, Dylan Thomas and Truman Capote. And in a famous scene from Fleabag, Phoebe WallerBridge turns her charismatic title character into a Scotch drinker, too. Maybe Scotch Whisky isn’t what we think it is. What we get when we ask for a Scotch at our neighborhood bar is actually Blended Scotch Whisky—a mix of malt and grain whiskies from a mix of Scottish distilleries. Malt whiskies are whiskies made from malted barley. Grain whiskies are whiskies made from corn, wheat or rye. These are the bottles on the railing beneath the counter of the bar. There are good roles for Blended Scotch in drinks with colleagues after work, or family at a barbecue, or friends at a house party. There are better roles for Single Malt Scotch, as a glass to accompany a conversation with a good friend or a femme fatale. Single Malt Scotch Whisky is malted barley whisky made from a single distillery and
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aged for a minimum of three years. They’re the great whiskies of Scotland. They’re the bottles on the shelves behind the bar.
Highlands: The largest geographical region, with a vast variety of styles, from light and subtle to rich and fruity.
Scotch Whisky distilleries are separated into six geographical regions, every region with attributes, characteristics and styles. The regions are, from south to north, Lowlands, Campbeltown, Islay, Highlands, Speyside and Islands.
Islay: The southern island of the Inner Hebrides. Intense and smoky whiskies with rich, heavy flavors of peat, iodine and seaweed.
Lowlands: The region just over the border from England. These whiskies are gently malty, with flavors of grass, ginger, cinnamon and toffee. Campbeltown: At the southern tip of the Scottish peninsula. Salty, sweet and smoky Single Malts, with flavors of dried fruit and vanilla.
Speyside: In the northeast of the Highlands. More than half of Scotland’s distilleries are located in the region. Its Single Malts are fruity, nutty, elegant and mildly peaty. Islands: The islands around the north, west and south of the mainland. The styles of these whiskies vary from island to island, from peaty and smoky, to flowery and sweet.
SCOTTISH WHISKY DISTILLERY REGIONS HIGHLANDS
ISLANDS
ISLAY
LOWLANDS
CAMPBELTOWN
