Reading Scotch Whiskey Labels

Video Transcript

Hello my name is Patrick McMenamin the owner of Caledonia Bar here in Budapest and I'm here on behalf of Expert Village to talk about whiskey and particular Scotch whiskey. I would like to tell you something about whiskey labels which are very important to whiskey itself like most labels of most foods and drinks and a lot of the labeling has to do with the law, tradition, marketing of course trying to sell the brand of whiskey. But some that are very very important aspect of identifying a good Scotch whiskey and of course the very first it must contain the word Scotch somewhere on the label. You'll see on all the whiskeys that we have here at the Caledonia and that the word Scotch on whiskey will always appear. Not Scottish whiskey not Scott's whiskey but Scotch whiskey if it doesn't have the word scotch somewhere on the label then it's most likely that it's been made somewhere else at Scotland. So that's the first thing to look out for on a good whiskey and label. If the label then contains the words single malt as this bottle here of Glenfiddich may I remind you that the whiskey has been made from one source of barley only, the other key factors to look for is the age of the whiskey and in general terms the older the whiskey the more expensive it's likely to be so you don't have a drink list in front of you then be careful you don't buy a 25 year old whiskey and just cause you feel like it may cost you more. But indeed a 25 year old whiskey is a real joy to be hold if you a whiskey lover and of course you'll find other details of where the whiskey was made the name of the discover, the alcohol content and of course other details about the discovery itself should you be interested and most things up here on the back of the bottle. So those are some of the key aspect of labeling a good Scottish whiskey and what Scotch must appear and whiskey in Scotland is always always spelled without an E which is another important thing just to remember. If you come across a whiskey that has an E in the word whiskey then its most likely that whiskey is an Irish whiskey, the Irish usually with an E in the word whiskey. So apart from this name being instantly recognized all over the world as being an Irish whiskey Jameson being a very famous name this also demonstrates the different in spelling, Irish whiskeys always spelling the an E Scotch whiskey never spelling with an E.

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