One of Scotland's greatest legacies in history is the creation of whisky, or more particularly, single malt whisky. The discussion below provides a short guide on the fundamentals of the single malt--its history, manufacturing process, storage, preparation, and of course, serving and using scotch whiskey glasses.
Scotch whisky is considered as the most natural of all the spirits in as much as it only makes use of one type of malted grain and is distilled only at one common distillery. This characteristic of simplicity however is opposed by the fact that not all distilling processes are the same, which in turn makes each manufacture of whisky a chance of delivering a highly unique drink.
Like other alcoholic drinks, single malt improves in taste and strength with the passing of age. Its maturity is also affected by the type of grain it contains, and the type of wood cask it has been distilled in. A hundred of brands are competing in the industry and claiming to be the world's number one producer, but this is of course only a sales pitch more than anything. Instead of wasting time pondering on which one is the best, it is definitely much better to put best in several contexts, like categorizing products according to standard or vintage maturity, to distillation and bottling, and to ingredients used.
No matter how a taster tries to be objective , he or she cannot certainly separate his or her individual preferences in judging the qualities of the single malt. The drink varies in a plethora of qualitiesâ€"sweetness, dryness, lightness, fullness, roundness, elegance, character, assertiveness, and so on. People have different views on how the nose, the body, the palate and the finish affect the senses, and the only way to experience the quality of a drink is to taste it ourselves.
Serving is among the most important components of drinking a single malt whiskey, since all the elements of the beverage including color, texture, and pureness can make or break the drinking experience. In terms of glassware, scotch whiskey glasses shaped like cut glass tumblers are the ones that evoke the strongest traditional mood, best for people loyal to Scottish drinking culture. The weakness of these tumblers however, is that they are more concerned on beauty than function. Because mostly carved or engraved with thick details and designs, they do not faithfully show the true color of the drink. And because they have wider rims, they cannot sustain keeping the drink's aroma inside their bodies.
As far as Scotch whisky tasting goes, the best drinking ware is the one styled like a tall and narrow snifter or an elongated glass of sherry. Because these wares are made of clear, transparent, and non-detailed material, the can immediately show the true color of the drink. Their taller height as compared to the traditional whisky glass, on the other hand makes whisky tasting more effective in terms of olfactory evaluation. Today, spirit and drinks companies widely use sherry copitas as scotch whiskey glasses in grading their products, and consequently this is also the case in most bars featuring whisky cocktails.
About the Author
Lawrence Reaves is a freelance writer working for a online marketing ideas company and writes about his passions such as single malt scotch whiskey which is always to be served in a scotch whiskey glass, better known as a Glencarin Glass.
