Written by Jackson Glassey, May 26 2018

My name’s Jackson: I love music, reading, writing, jogging, Counter-Strike, and good criticism. I aspire to become an English professor at some point in time, but for now I’ve been happily employed at Passion Vines for about half a year. I felt compelled to contribute to the PV blog after exploring our wonderfully constructed website, so I hope you enjoy!

You could argue that all hard liquors be approached like classifiable genres if one expects to become a connoisseur in any given variety: rum tends to be the most egalitarian of the bunch in terms of drinkability, tequila is anything but a level playing field (i.e., there’s a clear divide between good tequila and bad tequila—you’ll be able to make that distinction the morning after), gin is almost always mixed with something else, bourbon is nothing more glorious than whiskey made here in the States, vodka supposedly purports some blue-blooded booze (though I have yet to try a vodka that I haven’t hated), brandy has wine to thank for its existence (same deal with vermouth), and absinthe is way too lucid for comfort… then there’s scotch.

Before I go any further, allow me to disclaim that I’m still very much infantile in my knowledge of this particular drink. People spend their lives studying scotch—and all of the other liquors listed above, for that matter—as an art form and analyzing the creative and/or scientific processes involved in its making, aspiring to become as well-versed and enlightened as possible. Take what I’ve written here with a grain of barley; I’m just a guy with a sudden onset of scotch mania who wanted to document his early experiences with the drink. You have been warned.

So, what exactly is scotch? Well, as sure as bourbon is exclusive to America, scotch is based out of Scotland. It’s a branch of whisky—by the way, when used in reference to scotch, the otherwise present “e” in “whiskey” must be omitted—that usually implements barley grains in its distillation process, as opposed to corn. Here are some key terms…

Peat: An amorphous amalgamation of decomposed vegetation, acidic soil, and compact turf often found in water-saturated bogs, known otherwise as “peat bogs.” Scotch makers harvest these muddy swaths of soil to burn underneath distilling scotch, the resulting fumes adding an entirely unique flavor dynamic that doesn’t exist in traditional scotch. Peat is easily the most polarizing feature of the drink, as not all scotches are made using this soil; some people can’t stand the smell of a heavily peated scotch (much less the taste), while others seek peated scotch and only peated scotch. You’ll have a good idea what your stance will be when you first try one.

Casks: I know many other liquors utilize casks of various wooden persuasions in their aging processes, but this is especially important with scotch. Sherry casks, for instance, will add an immediately noticeable tinge of raisin, cinnamon, and maple to a Scottish whisky, making it go down more like a syrup than a scotch—Aberlour’s A’bunadh (pronounced: “Ah-boona”) is such a variety, aged in 100% sherry. Oak casks, on the other hand, can take the flavor of a scotch in many different directions depending on a cask’s geographic origin. American oak will translate to a much more mellow drinking experience, propelling echoes of vanilla and caramel, while European oak will hit you like a freight train, glossing a scotch with slaps of spicy bitterness. This isn’t to say that casks can’t mingle, as my favorite scotch thus far is Aberlour’s dual-cask Oak/Sherry 12-year blend. Bottom line: casks offer lots of room for experimentation in scotch making. 

Non-chill filtered: If you see this phrase on a container of scotch, that means it wasn’t designed to be cold. Be careful throwing these types of scotches on ice or in your fridge, as they’ll appear cloudy and saturated upon pouring. Scotch experts debate whether or not this actually affects the taste of it (which probably means the difference is so minor that the vast majority of consumers would never notice a difference), but on a basic level of aesthetics, it helps to just keep these stowed away in a cabinet.