On January 25th people the world over will open a bottle of Single Malt and raise a glass to Scotland’s most famous son, Robert Burns. The celebration of his birthday is the perfect occasion to have a “wee dram” of Scotland’s original Whisky – Malt Whisky.
Under Scotch Whisky Regulations a “single Malt Scotch Whisky” must be made only from malted barley, and must be distilled in pot stills, by a batch process at a single/individual distillery. It must then be aged for at least 3 years in oak casks of a capacity no larger than 700 litres.
Many single malts are matured for much longer than this, and it is the casks themselves that can make a huge contribution to the flavour of the finished product. Much depends upon the previous use of the cask for example for bourbon, sherry, port wine, Madeira, rum or cognac. The whisky continues to develop and change as it spends time in the wood, and maturation periods of twenty years or more are not uncommon.
With the popularity and success of mass dist
illing techniques for blended whisky in the late 19th century, little whisky was drunk as single malt outside the Highlands of Scotland. This all changed in the 1980s when single malts were “rediscovered” by enthusiastic consumers and began to be made publicly available by the distilleries.
Although made from very simple materials – malted barley, water and yeast – the make of each distillery has an individual character. There are currently about 90 operating malt whisky distilleries in Scotland with single malts from around 30 closed distilleries still available.
The Bottle Shop in
Kolossi has a large selection of Single Malt Scotch whisky for you to choose from. Whether looking for an old favourite or wanting to discover something new they have a fine selection for you including Jura, Glen Turner, Speyburn, Tomintoul, The Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Highland Park, Ardbeg, Oban Wolfburn, Glen Ord, Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Dalmore, Macallan, Bunnahabhain and Mortlach to name a few.
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