Types of Scotch Whisky

Scotch whisky like all whisky is made using either malted barley, grain or a combination of the two. Despite this naming conventions historically have often been confused, sometimes intentionally with spirit labeled as pure malt, vatted malt, single malt etc.

What whisky types of Scotch are there? Scotch is either bottled as single malt, blended malt, single grain, or blended Scotch.

Single Malt Scotch Whisky

A Scotch Whisky distilled at a single distillery (i) from water and malted barley without the addition of any other cereals, and (ii) by batch distillation in pot stills.

Blended Malt Scotch Whisky A blend of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies which have been distilled at more than one distillery. Often formerly called ‘vatted malt’, and in the case of the Cardhu controversy as ‘pure malt’.

Singe Grain Scotch Whisky A Scotch Whisky distilled at a single distillery from any combination of malted barley and other malted or unmalted cereals, with or without the use of batch distillation. These are almost universally subject to continuous distillation.

Blended Grain Scotch Whisky A blend of Single Grain Scotch Whiskies distilled at more than one distillery.

Blended Scotch Whisky A blend of one or more Single Malt Scotch Whiskies with one or more Single Grain Scotch Whiskies

What is the difference between ‘single’, ‘pure’ and ‘vatted’ malt?

A single malt is a whisky produced at a single distillery using malted barley and batch distillation, a pure or vatted malt refers to blend of malt whisky produced at more than distillery. However the term ‘pure malt’ was often used throughout the twentieth-centuryas a synonymous of single malt, meaning the bottle contained 100% pure malt whisky made at the same distillery. It was also used to refer to single cask whisky on occasion as well.

This is further complicated however in that pure malt was used in place of vatted malt, a blending of whisky from various distilleries, yet still consisting entirely of pure malt whisky. The term vatted whisky was thus replaced with blended malt in official capacities within the whisky industry.