Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce Tomatin, and what does it mean?

It’s pronounced To-MAT-in, with the emphasis on MAT; it is Gaelic for ‘Hill of the Juniper Bush’

What’s the difference between single malt and blended whisky?

Malt whisky is produced by one distillery using only malted barley; blended whisky contains grain whisky, the malt content being anything from 15% to 60%

What is grain whisky?

Grain whisky is made from the same basic ingredients as malt, but in addition to (smaller quantities of) malted barley, wheat and/or maize may be used; rather than being malted, the wheat and maize are cooked for 2 hours in pressure cookers

Is malt whisky better than blended whisky?

This is purely a matter of taste. There are those who wouldn’t dream of drinking anything but malt, others prefer the character of a blend. The Antiquary 12 year old deluxe blend, for instance, has a high malt content, each of the carefully selected malt whiskies being at least 12 years of age, as are all the grain whiskies in the blend

What kind of wood is whisky matured in?

Oak. Usually American oak casks which have previously stored bourbon. The bourbon has seasoned the wood, and this gives whisky its rich colour, the previous occupant adding to the final flavour; Spanish sherry butts are also often used, and more woods are being introduced, such as port and Madeira casks

If the ingredients are the same for all malt whisky, how is it that there are so many different flavours?

There are all kinds of natural elements that affect the taste; the water used in Island whiskies is very peaty, and they use more peat to dry the malt, producing a distinctive smoky flavour

Why is some malt whisky so expensive?

Each year whisky is maturing in the cask, between 1% and 2% is lost through evaporation – the Angels’ Share. This means that when a cask of whisky that has been maturing for, say 25 years, about one third has been lost . Along with the Angels, the Taxman also takes a share! As a general rule, the older (and therefore finer) the whisky is, the more expensive it becomes.

What’s the difference between measuring the alcohol level by ‘alcohol by volume (abv)’ as opposed to ‘proof spirit’?

ABV means what the term ‘alcohol by volume’ suggests. A bottle of whisky shown as 40% abv contains 40% alcohol, 60% water in its make up.
Originally ‘proof spirit’ simply meant that the spirit had been ‘proved’ to contain a requisite amount of alcohol to water. The link between the two scales is that ‘100% proof spirit’ contains 57.1% alcohol by volume. This means that the original ‘70% proof’ showed an alcohol content of 40%. (In America, the system is much simpler – 100% proof spirit is the virtual equivalent of 50% abv, so that a whisky showing 43% abv will be classified as 85% proof in the USA.)