Island of Geese -- Islay?

I think you'll find it's a vatted Islay

Roger

Which is what, exactly? I don't remember there being an "Islay Distillery".

Vatted Islay is precise accurate... Vatted malts are usually the product of more than one distillery. In this instance a blend of 2 or more Islay malts. Therefore there doesn't need to be an "Islay distillery" I personally ignore any vatted malt, because I prefer the to taste the output of a single distillery, and preferably a bottling from a single barrel.

Roger

I've never understood the difference between a vatted malt and a regular blended malt.

Blended malt is the new term.(Just decided by SWA). Vatted malt is one of the old terms.

Means the same. Vatted malts used to be the most common term. Vatted malts wasnt that common compared to other whisky types

It means a blend of single malts, from different distilleries

MacDeffe

Wine-Searcher finds only one merchant stocking it:

But "blended" as a term has been kicking around for donkey's years to describe the likes of Johnnie Walker et al.

Bret

Steffen Bräuner wrote:

Am I missing something here? Johnny Walker, Famous Grouse, Teachers ...

A vatted malt is a combination of single malts and does not contain grain alcohol.

A "blend" is a blend of (usually) several single malts and grain alcohol.

"Blended malt," according to the SWA, is the same thing as a vatted malt. I don't plan on using it in conversation because I think it's misleading. It is too easy to confuse a blend with a blended malt.

~ On 2005-05-21, Brett... wrote: ~ > I've never understood the difference between a vatted malt and a regular ~ > blended malt. ~ ~ A vatted malt is a combination of single malts and does not contain grain ~ alcohol. ~ ~ A "blend" is a blend of (usually) several single malts and grain alcohol.

That's "grain WHISKY" [e.g. Invergordon, North Britain, Cadmus] not "grain ALCOHOL" [Everclear].

Aaron

According to your definition are the following are the following blended whiskies or blended malts(vatted malt):

Johnny Walker, Teachers, Bells, Famous Grouse, White Horse.

why should they be? they all contain grain whisky. so they are according to the definition above blended whiskies

gr33ts Frank aka Eddie

-- Please fasten your seatbelt!

- Bitte fasten, Ihr Sitz bellt! (Waalkes?)

Why should they be what? How do I know if a blended whisky contains "grain whisky"?

They all do. That is implied in the definition of "blended whisky". Usually most of it is grain whisky, and only 20-40% is malt. Cheaper blends often contain a lower proportion of malt whisky, and the more expensive ones a higher. It is unusual for a blend to contain more malt than grain whisky; the few that do are sometimes called "reverse blends".

If it does not contain grain whisky at all, but still has malt whisky from more than one distillery, it is a "vatted malt", or a "blended malt", those two terms mean the same thing.

In the future the term "vatted malt" will dissapear from bottles

(but us, the whiksy drinkers, will probably keep on using it)

Just take a look on the Serendipity

MacDeffe

So the following is true?

Grain Whisky - Whisky distilled from a grain other than barley eg: Can you buy such a thing? I presume this terms is not the same as a single grain whisky? The silly thing to me is that malted barley is a grain!

Blended Whisky - A blend of whiskies from different distilleries, a proportion of which is grain whisky eg: Johnny Walker, Bells, Teachers

Blended Malt/Vatted malt - A blend of whiskies from one or more distilleries that does not include any grain whisky. eg: Ardbeg Serendipity, Poit Dubh

Grain whisky is made from unmalted grain whch can be barley, wheat or maize (corn).

Correct

Also correct

Roger

Right. And another crucial difference is that malt whisky is distilled in pot stills, whereas grain whisky is distilled in a more efficient column still.

The Irish often use a mix of malted and unmalted grains, and distill it in a pot still. This is not malt whiskey since it is made partly from unmalted grains, but is called "pure pot still whiskey" to differentiate it from grain whisk(e)y. As far as I know this is never done in Scotland.

And to answer Brett's question: yes, you can buy grain whisky. Some distillers do release "single grain whisky", the Invergordon 12 being the only one I have tasted. It doesn't have much character though, because the column still is so efficient and produces too pure a spirit with not much taste.

There's one called Blackbarrel that's available where I live. I've bought it a few times and found it quite tasty at first, but a bit one-dimensional and, after a while, boring.

However, I recall Bushido/Professor Malt posting here a few years ago on this topic. (Googles.) Here's an excerpt:

I have a very excellent Cadenhead's 31yo Lochside Grain whisky that is silky, sumptuous and wonderful. I have also tasted the fantastic North of Scotland 1963 which is actually a single malt. However, since it was distilled in a column still, instead of a pot still, they chose to call it a grain whisky.

(end)

Here's the very interesting thread it came from, including several long, vintage Bushido posts. Worth perusing on this topic of blends, vatteds, grains, etc..

cheers.

bill