A Connoisseur's Guide to Single-Malt Scotch

The colder the winter, the greater the pleasure of kicking the weather off your boots, closing the door of your castle and treating yourself to a single-malt whisky. Let your hands cradle the glass to warm the amber liquid. Inhale the peaty aroma of the malt. Amid such a glow, ice hasn't a snowball's chance. Just a dash of water to release the whisky's vapors. Then take a sip of the smoky, smooth malt. Don't hurry. Make the pleasure last.

Single malts are the purest of all Scotch whiskies. Each tells its own story. Where the hills of Scotland are gentle, so are the single malts. Where there are mountains, the water is given up by springs in the granite and flows over miles of peaty earth before reaching the distillery. The peat stays in the water. This is the taste of the Scottish Highlands and islands, and every distillery's water has its own character. In no other spirit is the character of the water so important.

In Scotland, the water is first used to steep the grains of barley so that they begin to sprout. Then they are dried over a peat fire. This steeping and kilning is the procedure of malting. Once dry, the malt is fermented--again, in the local water--and distilled in copper pots.

Scotland is a rugged country. A distillery that stands by the sea will be washed by the wind and the rain. As the single malt matures in the cask, the wood contracts and expands with the temperature. The cask breathes in the salt air. The mists and sea breezes of Scotland are there in your glass.

Some single malts mature faster than others. It is an impenetrable equation of the barley malt, the pot still, the weather and the wood. All single malts are matured (concluded on page 216)Single-Malt Scotch(continued from page 148) in oak, but each distillery has its own supply of wood. Some make a point of buying casks that originally contained sherry. Other Scottish distillers use American oak barrels that have weathered four or five summers in a bourbon warehouse.

Single-malt whisky is a secret drink. Where has it been all these years? The truth is that for generations, the Scots thought their single malts were too individualistic for the tastes of even the English, let alone the denizens of the New World. For years, Scotland kept a cache of single malts to itself and used the rest to produce blends such as Johnnie Walker Red and Black and J&B.

Even the Scots are inclined to save the single malts for the evening and have a blended whisky at lunch. The first single malt, an easy Lowland, perhaps, might be drunk after an afternoon stroll, a day's fly-fishing or a game of golf. Before dinner, a more intense, dry single malt from the craggy coast line of the west. After dinner, a Highland single malt that has spent 15 years or more in sherry wood.

Like fine wines, single malts are known by their classic regions. To stock your personal library, you will need five or six shelves. Here are some reviews, starting with the lower shelf.

The Lowlands

The softest single malts come from the Lowlands. The easiest to find is the light, fresh Auchentoshan (ocken-toshen). Also look for the delicate Rosebank, the lemony Bladnoch and the sweeter Littlemill. On the edge of this region, just across the Highland line, is the distillery of Glen-goyne, which makes a beautifully rounded single malt.

Campbeltown

Just one small town, but a recognized region in itself, on the peninsula called the Mull of Kintyre on the craggy west coast of Scotland. It has only three single malts. Springbank, a lonely malt but an acknowledged classic, notable for the salty tang of its location, is the most readily available. Also look for Longrow and Glen Scotia.

Islay

Pronounced eye-la. The classic island for single malts, with eight distilleries. Start with the flowery Bunnahabhain (boona-haven), then work your way up through Bruichladdich (brook-laddie), Bowmore and the rare Caol Ila (kaleela) to Laphroaig (la-froig) for the full, peaty, sea-weedlike intensity that makes the island's single malts the delight of the connoisseur. Among the other islands, Skye is notable for its Talisker, and Orkney for Highland Park. Both are very full-flavored and peaty.

Speyside

By far the biggest producing region, in the valley of the river Spey, with tributaries such as the Livet and the Fiddich, all in the stretch of the Highlands between Inverness and Aberdeen. Only one single malt is allowed to call itself The Glenlivet, but several others mention the location on their label. The Glenlivet, the original, is the most elegant and complex of single malts, with an almost herbal aperitif quality. It's a must edition to your single-malt library. Glenfiddich is smooth and well balanced, with an aromatic fruitiness. Knockando has a light almondy note. Cardhu presents a light-to-medium body and a sweetish palate. Strathisla introduces a little more oakiness. The Macallan has the most sherry-wood character among the readily available single malts. Try it at 18 years old; it is an acknowledged classic.

Northern Highlands

The most remote stretch of the Scottish mainland still manages to support about ten distilleries, among which by far the best known is Glenmorangie. This very clean, lightly fruity single malt is notable for its dash of bourbon-wood sweetness. It's the perfect single malt for the cocktail hour.

In the Highlands, it will be cold now, and maybe snowy. Christmas is just around the corner and so is New Year's, which the Scots call hogmanay. Then there's Burns Night on January 25. We'll drink to all those with single malts--and winter has just begun.

"Even the Scots are inclined to save the single malts for the evening and have a blended whisky at lunch."