The Different Kinds of Whiskys

Just what are the different kinds of whiskys? The type that most people are aware of are the blends. Then there are the single malts which have been getting more attention. Blends would not exist if it weren't for grain whiskys. Then there are the pure malts or blended malts or vatted malts which are sometimes confused with blends. Then there's the least known single casks.

Blends
We can't talk about whisky without mentioning or even thinking about the blends. Blended whiskys are the product of the mixing of single malt whiskys and grain whiskys.

an image of a column still

Grain Whisky
Sadly the whisky that is most responsible for our beloved blends such as Johnnie Walker and Chivas don't get a lot of attention. Grain whiskys are grains that were distilled in column stills/continuous stills. There isn't much else information regarding grain whiskys out there but it is said that majority of the grain being used is corn. It is said that blenders use grain whisky to let the blend have a more well rounded character. Also, grain whiskys are cheaper and easier to make because of them being distilled in column stills. Column stills produce spirits of a lesser quality though.

Malt Blends/Pure Malts/Vatted Malts
Malt blends or Pure Malts, whose names depend on who made them, are basically blends of different single malts. The most famous example is Johnnie Walker Green Label. Sadly there aren't a lot of them around. With the rise of single malts, companies are having their distilleries focus more on producing single malts and blends and not malt blends since uninformed people will not be able to distinguish the difference between blends and malt blends anyways.

an image of pot stills in Glenmorangie

Single Malt Whisky
The highly regarded single malt whiskys are basically whiskys that were made by one distillery. They must also be made with malted barley which was distilled in a pot still. "Single" does not mean it is a single whisky. Single malts are blended most of the time. Go here for more details.

Single Cask/Single Barrel
Majority of the single cask releases are single malt whiskys. Single cask whisky means that the certain whisky that was bottled came from only one cask/barrel from which it was aged in. Which means whatever the age statement is put on the label is the age of the whisky and it came from only one cask. So for example, the image above is a Glendronach Single Cask bottling. The age statement is 10. The year "2002" there indicates which year the whisky was distilled and on the lower left shows when it was bottled. The cask/barrel number is on the right to indicate how many bottles the cask/barrel was able to produce. The type of cask is also indicated.

Bourbon
For a whisky to be called Bourbon it has to have been matured in virgin American oak barrels. It must have been made in the US and must be made from at least 51% corn. Most distilleries use column stills to make Bourbon. Now that doesn't mean that Bourbon is the same as grain whisky. They're very different. Because of the climate in the US, Bourbon will mature faster than Scotch being matured in Scotland. Even though a Bourbon is 7 years old. It will act like it's older than 7 years old because whisky matures faster in warmer climates.