A Little Scotch Knowledge Goes A Long Way!!!

Hello all, as we enjoy smoking cigars many people always ask "What's the deal with scotch?" I can explain a very basic overview of scotch pairing with cigars as well as other spirits. Scotch is not for everyone nor is it required to drink scotch with a cigar but it's just another way to further enhance your smoking experience. What I have done is went to a website that breaks down a little history behind scotch. There link is below in blue so you can review their site directly and they have also added the pairing of cigars which I have not done because my cigar pairings and tasings will be done seperately by me. So here is some info that will give you a little bit better understanding about scotch (single malt's) so the next time you have a stick, maybe you can give a glass of scotch a try too! You never know, you might just like it!!!

If you got it smoke it!!!

Thanks to the guys at Scotch and Cigars for the information.

Link: Scotch and Cigars

There is no right or wrong way to drink Scotch whisky - it's all down to personal taste.

We prefer our Scotch neat, and our rankings are based on this. However, here are a few suggestions: Many who take their Scotch neat say they don't want to spoil the taste by adding water.

Conversely, an equal number say that adding a touch of pure, soft spring water serves to enhance the particular aroma and flavor of a whisky. Ordinary tap water may contain high amounts of chlorine and therefore would not complement any whisky.

Your best bet is to opt for bottled Scottish mineral water, ideally the same spring water used in the making of the particular whisky!Adding ice to a whisky is a shame because it dulls the fine taste and wonderful aromas. Similarly, carbonated water is not an ideal accompaniment for whisky as it may interfere with the aromas also.

Adding mixers like ginger ale, soda, and cola is a popular trend. However, it begs the question- why bother drinking good Scotch if you intend to mask the taste?Americans generally have trouble with the correct pronunciation of some Scottish names, so we've found a link that features Pip Hill, founder and chairman of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, pronouncing all of those mysterious names.

Imagine our horror when we found that we had been ordering "Glen-fid-ditch", while the correct pronunciation is actually closer to "Glen-fid-dich", with a very soft "ch"! We haven't worked up the nerve to order Bruichladdich yet!

Tasting Scotch

It is normal to follow the undiluted nose with a sip, to assess texture, viscosity and initial flavors. The smokiness of the whisky will really come out with this, and the dryness or sweetness too.
Tasting the diluted whisky will give you a final indication of the flavors and quality of the whisky. The texture of the spirit will still be apparent even if it has been diluted - note the viscosity especially. The balance of main flavors is what you should be concentrating on now especially - sweetness, sourness, dryness and saltiness.

The water ought to be soft and, as far as possible, tasteless. Tap water is fine if you are lucky enough to live in a society which regards the provision of good water as one of the elements of civilization. Otherwise, use still water from a bottle.

The glass should be tulip-shaped, with a narrow opening. The nosing glass is best, then the sherry copita, brandy snifter and wine glass in descending order of desirability. The open-mouthed cut glass article that is traditionally called a whisky tumbler is not suitable at all. The mouth is for pouring the whisky into for the purpose of tasting. The tongue and palate, both of which are located within the mouth, detect the primary tastes: sweet, sour or acidic, salty, bitter or dry.

The size and shape of the mouth are irrelevant, but prior to tasting they should not be encumbered by other flavors such as lozenges, tobacco, etc.The nose is far and away the most important bit of kit when you are evaluating malt whiskies. Our most sensitive organ—there are a mere 4 primary tastes and 3 primary colors, but there are 23 primary aromas—it can pick up scents diluted to one part in a million.

The eyes are not essential, though they are useful to be able to see the color of the whisky. Having said that, we would advise tasters that, because the eye is such a dominant sense in humans, it often misleads. Since dark whiskies appeal more to the eye, professional tasters often use cobalt blue glasses and red lighting to disguise the color of the whisky.

The procedure for inspecting malt whiskies is simple. Look at the stuff in the glass, sniff it, add some water, sniff it again and taste it. The water is essential in tasting full-strength malts. Not only does it soften the influence of the alcohol, it draws out the nose of the whisky to an astonishing extent. When tasting whiskies, try to divest yourself of expectation and concentrate on the present experience. Casks are infinitely diverse, and often very different from what you would expect from a particular distillery.

Tasting whisky should be an informative experience, but the main thing is that you enjoy it. As I said at the start, the idea should be to decipher the complex characteristics of a particular whisky, so when you come to drink it in a more conventional way you'll be aware of much about the drink. Cheers!

The Aroma of Scotch

Nosing is a true delight, and reveals much about a whisky’s true character. Every whisky has a distinct bouquet, but a few characteristics are easily identifiable: Islay whiskies will smell smoky, and sherry casks usually give a sweet or caramel smell. The bouquet can change remarkably as water is added. There are seven main scent groups: esters, phenols, aldehydes, sweet associated, cereals, oils and woods.

Esters: fruit, flowers, peardrops

Phenols: medicinal, peaty, smoky

Aldehydes: hay, grass, leather

Sweet associated: vanilla, toffee, honey

Cereals: malt, bread, wheat Oils: butter, hazels, walnuts

Woods: cedar, pitch-pine, resin

There are many combinations of the above, which is what makes malt whisky so fascinating. On the other hand, there are many fine whiskies where the scents are so well integrated that they are almost impossible to unravel.

Adding water to a spirit really opens up both the flavor and the aromas. Just a drop or two of water is all that is required, and this will allow you to inhale the vapors more easily. There are only 4 primary flavors and 3 primary colors, but there are 32 primary aromas for you to get to work on. Not only that, but the nose is a fiendishly sensitive device and it can identify scents diluted down to one part in one million. The range of smells is huge, from wine and sherry smells, through nuts, vanilla and honey to more astringent smells such as carbolic, pear drops and citrus oils.

Viewing Scotch

Examining the color of a whisky before a drop even passes your lips can tell you a lot about it. A deep color indicates it has picked up a lot of the character of the cask that it's been stored in. Sherry and port casks often have this effect. Of course, some whiskies are colored with caramel, which can render the color deceptive.

It is also possible to gauge the relative viscosity (known as oiliness) of a whisky by swilling it around the glass and seeing how the "tears" flow down the side. Lastly, the brightness of the whisky is important. Unfiltered whiskeys (which often have more character) can look slightly hazy. When ranking your scotch via our website, use this color guide to help determine it's color. To print the guide, point at the bar and right-click. Then select Print from the menu.

Making Scotch

A Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the product of one specific distillery and has not been mixed with whisky from any other distilleries. The greatest concentration of malt whisky distilleries can be found in the Speyside region of north-east Scotland, with Highland, Lowland and Islay being the other main malt whisky producing zones.

Each of these regions has its own particular distinctive style of malt whisky and although it is not possible for two malts to be identical, even if the distilleries that produce them happen to stand side by side, it is usually possible to distinguish in which region of Scotland a particular whisky was made. In the production of Malt Scotch Whisky the basic raw materials are limited and consist of barley, water and yeast.

The process comprises five distinct stages.

MALTING which converts barley to MALT.
MASHING which produces WORT (sugar solution) from ground or crushed MALT.
FERMENTATION that produces WASH (a weak, crude, impure spirit) consequent upon the introduction of YEAST in the WORT.
DISTILLATION that strengthens and purifies the spirit contained in the WASH and also separates the solids contained in the spirituous liquor.
MATURATION that transforms the raw SPIRIT into WHISKY.

In two of the above stages the distiller is concerned with the behaviour of living organisms. In MALTING the involvement is the controlled germination of the barley corn and in FERMENTATION the action of the yeast when placed in a solution rich in fermentable sugars and growth factors. All living organisms are susceptible to conditions of their environment and many of the distiller's problems arise from there.

Malting of barley is actually the initial stages of the germination of the barley seed in its growth to the barley plant. During this process, far-reaching chemical changes occur within the corn, and it is these changes that produce malt from barley.

Barley is a food cereal similar to wheat and oats, all of which are related, botanically, to the grasses. It has always been the primary raw material for conversion to malt. The preference for barley over other cereals is undoubtedly the fact that the corn or seed is covered with a straw-like husk that is not removed by threshing and protects the grain during the process stages in malting. The husk subsequently serves as a filter in the mashing operations.

The object of Mashing is to render soluble and to dissolve as much of the valuable contents of the Malt as is possible. This produces a sweet liquid or sugar solution termed Wort containing in addition to the sugars intermediate products.

Yeast is a unicellular micro-organism, that is to say, it is a living organism whose individual units are visible only under the microscope. It belongs to the plant kingdom and is classified as one of the fungi. There are many different species of yeast but the one normally encountered in the distilling and brewing industries is called Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.

It is of paramount importance that all vessels in the mashing and fermentation processes be kept 100% clean and free from bacteria. To this end a very strict cleaning and sterilization of all plant is adhered to and no relaxation of the cleaning operations is permissible. Bacterial infection can have a serious effect on the yield of spirit and also adversely affect the quality of the spirit.

The two main operations in distilling are turning liquid into vapor and then vapor into liquid i.e. vaporization and then condensation. Distillation is simply a means of separation by these operations. A liquid can be separated from solids or one liquid from another and either the distillate or the residue collected. When the distillate is collected the operation is referred to as vaporization but when then residue is collected it is termed vaporization.