Among Scotch drinkers, are single malt drinkers and blend drinkers really like cats and dogs? I like single malts scotch and I like blends.  Many blends offer consistent quality that you can rely on wherever you are in the world.  At a bar, not sure what’s good, have a blended scotch.

There are two types of Scotch whisky that make up Blended Scotch Whisky; Single malt and Single Grain.  Single Malt Scotch is from a single distillery made from malted barley and a pot still.  Single grain scotch is not really made from a single grain, but rather a single distillery that in addition to malted barley uses other malted and unmalted grains, like corn for example.  There is Blended Malt (two or more single malts), Blended Grain (two or more single grain Scotch whiskies) and Blended Scotch which is one or more single malt scotch and one or more single grain Scotch.  Blended Scotch is what I want to talk about today.  We’ll save the discussion on the difference between pot stills and column stills, blended malt and blended grain for another time.

It's amazing that producers can make millions of bottles of blended scotch that have a consistent profile and is recognizable almost anywhere in the world.  So how does a blender maintain consistency while producing millions of bottles? The producers of Blended Scotch are not always following a recipe of X amount of this single malt (remember, there are over 100 distilleries in Scotland) and Y amount of that grain whisky to make their blend, instead they are trying to create a consistent flavor profile and the inputs can change.  However, generally speaking, there are core malt whiskies that contribute to much of a blend’s character.

What interests you about a particular blend’s honeyed, waxy, spicy profile or smoky backbone; – there is a single malt that give The Blend its character.  If you like a Blended Scotch and are also interested in getting into single malts, a good place to start is with the single malt that is at the heart of the blend you like.  The chart we link to is not a definitive recipe book for the blended scotches you will see on the shelf in your local liquor store or behind the bar.  As I mentioned, there is not an exact recipe, instead, it is intended to help you find the single malt scotch that is the reason why you like that blend so much.  Some blenders are happy to share what goes into their blend in detail (see Compass Box) others not so much.  

Most of Scotland’s single malt distilleries are owned by a handful of the large drink giants (Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, etc) the main goal of which is to supply their blended scotch brands.  Many of the single malts that make up the blends are released regularly and can easily be found.  

You might find a single malt released by an independent bottler that may have special finish (wine cask, port wood etc.) and the character of that particular bottling could be different than what is at the heart of the blend, which is why I suggest finding original bottler releases first.  However, independent bottler releases can be quite good, this too is for another discussion.

To start things off – if you like Dewar’s White Label, try Aberfeldy 12 year old single malt.  If you like Buchanan’s, try Dalwhinnie 15.  If you like Cutty Sark, try Glenrothes Select Reserve. Like Johnnie Walker Black Label, try Caol Ila.  Check out the chart we put together to see what makes up some of your favorite blends.

A note on the chart – this was pulled together from many different sources from all over the web.  Some malts are well known contributors to various blends and others might have contributed at one time, but now go elsewhere.  Try a single malt and blend side by side and see if there is something shared between the two.