“The light music of whiskey falling into a glass – an agreeable interlude.” - James Joyce
After some fair experimenting , I finally realized that I am a scotch man. It’s not that I don’t like other spirits , it’s just that I tend to like scotch whisk(e)y more . Now I am not a pro but I know I am on the right track and I can fairly differentiate the different flavors , nature and complexity of the spirit. Like most stuff ,the more varieties I try , the better I’ll become in judging. 
But, I have to say , I don’t believe in guzzling and binge drinking. I don’t think its the right way to enjoy such a pleasurable drink . Getting high is good , but its imperative that one stays within limits and drinks responsibly.
Since this is my first post about this , I would like to just briefly describe ‘what is scotch whisk(e)y ?’
Scotch is whisky from Scotland. If the whisky is not made in Scotland, it is not Scotch. Period. A mistake commonly made is calling whisky, scotch. This is because there are several other sub-sets of whisk(e)y, besides scotch. Besides certain requirements on how the whisky is produced (ingredients, duration of aging, etc.), most whisky are classified according to the regions where they are made. Only water and barley are used to make scotch whisky. sometimes whole grain of other cereals may be added. All scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for a minimum of three years. They must have a minimum alcoholic strength of 40% by volume.
The various blends are made from 2 type of scotch whiskey :
Single Malt Scotch Whisky : It’s a scotch produced from water and malted barley from a single distillery.
Single Grain Scotch Whisky : It’s a scotch that is produced in a single distillery but is made up of water, malted barley and whole grains of other cereals. The ‘single’ here is referring to single distillery and not single grain. These whiskys rarely get circulated in the market and even if they do they are circulated in limited numbers.
Blended Scotch whisky is a blend of one or more single-malt Scotch whiskies with one or more single-grain Scotch whiskies.
Blended malt Scotch whisky is a blend of two or more single-malt Scotch whiskies from various distilleries.
Blended grain Scotch whisky is a blend of two or more single-grain Scotch whiskies from various distilleries.
some famous whisk(e)ys are :
- Johnnie Walker series – Blended Scotch Whiskys
- Jameson – Blended Irish Whiskeys
- Glenfiddich – Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- Glenlivet – Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- Jack Daniels – Tennessee Whiskey
- Chivas Regal – Blended Scotch Whisky
‘Whisky Vs Whiskey’
American and Irish liquor producers tend to favor the spelling WHISKEY, while Canadian, Scottish, and Japanese producers tend to favor WHISKY. Now why this difference in spelling ? Well , that’s a big debate and its better if I don’t get into it 
I hope this article is a good start for the new section, ‘Scotch – Reviews’. I will be posting my first review soon .
