National Scotch Day

Sansvase / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

July 27th is National Scotch Day in the United States.

Scotch in this usage is Scotch whisky. Whilst whiskeys are available in many different places, Scotch whisky can only be used to describe whisky manufactured in Scotland. Not only that, the manner in which it is made is specified by law. Scotch must be aged for a minimum of three years in oak barrels and must have a minimum bottling strength of 40%.

Scotch whisky is a distilled beverage made from, originally, malt barley but can also be made from wheat and rye. There are different types of Scotch available. Single malt, single grain, blended malt, blended grain and blended.

Malt whiskeys are made from malt barley; grain whiskeys from wheat and rye. Single whiskeys are made from one malt or grain from one distillery whilst blended whiskeys can be made from different ones from different distilleries. The final category, blended, blends both malt and grain. Whisky will normally have its age displayed on the bottle, which shows how old it is. Blended whiskeys will show the age of the youngest whisky in the blend, not an average or the oldest.

The traditional ways of serving Scotch is neat - for purists, the best way - on the rocks or with a dash of water. A unit of Scotch is often referred to as a dram and the whisky itself has been called aqua vitae, or water of life.