In The News: Scottish Libations

If you're traveling to Scotland remember it isn't all about sightseeing; it is also about culture, and a part of Scotland's culture is their whisky. Truth be told I'm not fond of whisky or alcohol in general, but I tried it all the same, every time we stopped at a distillery, it was bound to grow on me eventually, right? At the time I knew nothing about whisky at all and I am apparently not alone. 

Most people don’t understand the difference between single malt and blended whisky, I didn't either. Blended whisky, which comprises more than 80% of the market, including brands like Johnnie Walker and Dewar's, is a mix of malt and grain whiskies that come from multiple distilleries. Single malt, which Scottish drinkers often refer to as malt rather than whisky.

Single malts aren’t necessarily always better than blends, but most of Scotland’s highest regarded and most expensive whiskies are single malt. Blended whiskies are smoother and easier to drink; malt can be almost overwhelming in flavor, a drink most work their way up to.

The vast majority of malt comes from three major whisky-producing regions. The Highlands and Speyside are both easily accessible from major cities, and their whiskies are relatively accessible to the malt novice, characterized by smooth, floral, often delicate flavors.

Then there’s Islay, the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, about 20 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland. It’s a roughly 70 mile journey from Glasgow to Islay. But, unless you plan on flying into the island’s tiny airport, it’s about 2.5 hours by car from Glasgow to the hamlet of Kennacraig, and a nearly three-hour ferry to Islay. Many people find Islay’s whisky even less accessible than the island itself.

If you’re a seasoned malt drinker, chances are you have a bottle from Islay in your liquor cabinet. If, on the other hand, you tried Scotch whisky for the first time and hated it, thought it was too smoky, or tasted like medicine or ashtrays, it probably came from Islay.
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Islay whiskies get their signature flavor from smoking peat in order to dry the malted barley used to create whisky. The results are polarizing; some purists believe the peat takes away from the true flavor of the whisky, others become addicted, perpetually searching for something peatier.

Wine drinkers like to talk about terroir: the environmental condition, geology and geography that give a wine its unique flavor. However, it takes a true connoisseur to know a wine’s exact origin from a blind taste. Even an amateur drinker would probably know in one sip whether a whisky came from Islay.

Nothing about Islay is easy. The island is rugged and tempestuous; winds gusting straight from the sea are powerful and unrelenting. Clusters of white-washed buildings make up the two main villages of Bowmore and Port Ellen; the rest of the island is mostly inhabited by sheep and birds, and largely covered in peat. 

Public transportation on the island is a nightmare, and driving and visiting distilleries don’t really mix, so you might want a friend to play designated driver while you hop from one distillery to the next. Distilleries can be magical places, waiting to be explored by your senses.

Visiting Scottish distilleries is also an incredible deal. Between £5 and £7 generally gets you a tour of the facility and a dram or two of cask-strength whisky. Many distilleries also offer pricier warehouse tastings (upwards of £25 each), giving the chance to sample rare whiskies straight from the barrel, including some whiskies that are impossible to find anywhere else and others that you may never taste again.

If you're in Islay do a tasting at Lagavulin, where £12 will get you a sample of an eight-year old whisky still too young for bottling, the flavor will give you an understanding of why aging is important. You can also try a double-matured bottle and a 30-year malt that normally costs more than £50 a dram in a bar, if you can find it.

Speaking of bars, there is a certain protocol to ordering malt in Scotland. First, please don’t call it Scotch. It’s whisky or malt. Second, unless you want to be the subject of ridicule, don’t order your malt on the rocks. Ice numbs the tongue and melts too fast. You either drink it neat or with a drop of water to open the flavors. Drinking it on the rocks is only acceptable if you’re drinking a blended whisky or if it’s scorching outside. But the odds of the latter happening are incredibly slim. In Scotland, summer is the second most famous myth after the Loch Ness Monster.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you with all your reservation needs. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

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