Beginners’ guide to single malt

There is no hard and fast rule to it. You need to go by number. If the strength of alcohol is 46% or more, water is best suited. To get the best from any single malt, mineral water at room temperature is recommended. It’s because water breaks the surface tension on the whisky and releases more of the aromas and flavours in the palate. There are oils in the whisky, which will hold onto the aroma and flavour compounds if you do not add some water.
Now comes how much water needs to be added. This will depend on the strength of whisky and the barrel used for maturation. Harvey said that American oak matured whiskies will take water well up to 50/50. Spanish oak matured whiskies will only take a small amount of water.

Whisky with ice isn’t a good choice, though preferred by many. The colder your whisky is less is the flavour. Another wrong notion, Harvey says, is whisky on the rocks.

Harvey believes there is single malt for every occasion. Scotch malt and lighter scotch whiskies are enjoyed at a high energy bar, club environment. Single malt scotch are generally savoured with friends out in bar or restaurant with ambience.

We consulted Stuart Harvey, the master blender at International Beverage Holdings Ltd. In his opinion, a beginner should start with unpeated malts (barley grains dried in the natural way). Heavily peated malts have strong and smoky flavours as grains are peat-smoked while drying. Balblair 2003 is a fine example of unpeated malt. It has a long lasting sweet finish and is well-balanced.

Also you can go for Old Pulteney 12 year old. It has a sweet, citrusy, flavour with a hint of banana skin. All these have distinguished tastes of their own and are acceptable to an untrained malt palate. Speyburn, a 10 year old malt is also another choice in the the single malt whisky category. This is medium bodied with hints of toffee and butterscotch, and a long lasting sweet finish.