Whisky is simply distilled beer. Malted grain, water, and yeast combine to work fermentation’s magic. Once fermentation is complete, distillation proceeds, and the alcohol vapor is captured, condensed, and stored in oak barrels. After three years, the spirit can officially be referred to as whisky. While there are many delightful whiskies distilled around the globe, the only whisky that can legally be called scotch is whisky distilled in Scotland, where malted barley is the grain of choice. And while the word “scotch” covers all the whisky originating from Scotland, there’s a mind-boggling variety of spirits with dizzying variations in flavor. Scotch may be easy to make, but it’s tough to master.
Scotland’s whisky originates from one of five geographic areas, and these whiskies are either single malts or blended whiskies. This article focuses on two whiskies: my favorite single malt heavily peated whisky from Ardbeg, one of the distillers in the south of Islay well known for big
