Scotch Labels

There is a certain art in understanding a label of a Scotch Whisky bottle, this is a small guide to it.

The most important thing to inspect when looking at any bottle of Scotch Whisky is whether it contains the word “Scotch Whisky”. While it may seem obvious at first, if a label does not have the word Scotch in it, than it is not a real Scotch Whisky. Similarly, the term “whiskey” or “Scottish” as opposed to Scotch, will most likely be a indication of a counterfeit bottle. This is a product of laws governing what can and cannot be called Scotch Whisky, only that which passes all requirements is able to carry the label “Scotch Whisky”.

The terms “pure malt” or “blended malt” are normally indicators that this is a mixture of single malt Scotch Whisky. Although, older bottling that are described as “pure malt” can be in actual fact single malt.

Scotch Labels are the best indicators of the age of the Scotch Whisky. If a certain amount of years is stated on the bottle, than it is the age of the maturation. For instance, “12 year single malt” would indicate a single malt that was matured for 12 years. Otherwise if a year is given, this is the year the Scotch Whisky was distilled. A second year is the year that the Scotch Whisky was bottled. As Scotch Whisky stops ageing when bottled, the difference between the two shows the length of ageing.