Whisky's singular sensation

WHEN someone asks to be served a "single malt"' whisky without mentioning a specific distillery, he or she is actually asking simply for malt whisky. This is because single malts are malt whiskies from one distillery where a distinctive house style is usually noticeable.

"Blended Malt" on the other hand, is the official term used by The Scotch Whisky Association for malt whiskies put together from more than just one distillery. Other unofficial terms for these blends are "vatted malt", "pure malt", "100 per cent malt" and "all malt". Blended malt whiskies are every bit as good as single malts in terms of richness of flavour and quality, but because of the meld, the flavour characteristics of each distillery are not as easily identifiable.

That, however, should not detract from the quality of the final product which typically is greater than the sum of its parts and therefore usually offers excellent value when compared with single malts.