whisky, single-malt, global. From being a specialty of Scotland and to a lesser extent Ireland, single malt whisky is now being made globally, mostly on the back of the upsurge in interest in single-malt scotch.
While some European distillers have been making the style since the nineteenth century—Germany’s Schraml has been distilling whisky since 1818—the explosion in European single malt is a more recent phenomenon starting in the late 1990s. There are in excess of 150 distillers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein making single malt, many of whom have added a malt distillate to an existing range of fruit spirits or grain-based korn. See Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and korn.
This approach extends to the distillation equipment used, often copper pot stills with water baths and rectifying columns, and an approach to the raw material in which the distiller treats the malted barley in the same way as fruit and tries to capture the essence of the cereal character. See still, hybrid.
Some others approach whisky making from a brewing heritage, for example, using different roasts of barley, and temperature-controlled fermentation. Some smoke their barley over either peat or wood, while local wine casks are extensively used.
That France has a burgeoning single malt movement is perhaps not surprising; this is the world’s largest market for scotch in volume terms. A cluster in Brittany follow a traditional Scottish template, while those in Alsace take a more fruit-spirit-oriented approach, with barley being pushed further forward. The rest are spread geographically and philosophically, with different yeasts being used and deep exploration of terroir (including food culture for smoking techniques) and, in Cognac, a fusion between Cognacais approaches to distillation and maturation. Oak tends to be used as a frame rather than a dynamic element. See cognac; élevage; and France.
Single malt is also made in the Netherlands and Belgium. There is an argument that genever is closer to whisky than to London Dry gin, which would mean the Dutch have been whisky distillers (albeit by another name) since the sixteenth century; indeed, much of the genever they made in the nineteenth century used minimal amounts of botanicals or none at all to flavor the basic malt spirit. There are also two single malt producers in Spain, one of which, Destillerias y Crianzas, has been producing since 1959. The oldest central European whisky distiller is the Czech Republic’s Golden Cock.
Single malt is now made in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Although whisky production was trialed in Sweden and Denmark in the 1950s, and Finland had the Kosenkorva distillery, which ran from 1981 to 2000, making the Alko and Viski 88 brands, the boom is a recent one, partly driven by rising consumer interest and the easing of monopoly control of spirit sales in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. See Scandinavia.
Distillers have a wide range of approaches, and while a Scottish model is followed, different barley varieties are used, as is local oak, and different smoking techniques using not just peat but juniper and, in Iceland’s case, sheep dung. Climate also plays a part (there are two distilleries north of the Arctic Circle), and the extreme fluctuations in temperature in the northern part of region are considered to have an impact on flavor.
Until World War II, Australia was the largest market for scotch whisky. It had also distilled its own from 1791 until the 1980s when the last two large distilleries in the state of Victoria closed. The new Australian single malt industry started in Tasmania—where most of the country’s distilleries are now concentrated—in 1992 when distiller Bill Lark succeeded in persuading the Australian government to rewrite existing legislation regarding the minimum size of a still, thereby permitting small-scale distillation to commence. See
Although it is too early to say that an identifiable Australian style has emerged, distillers in Tasmania tend to use local brewing malt (and often buy in wash). The local peat contains a different range of microflora, producing a different range of aromatics, while Australian wine and fortified wine casks are used, often of a smaller size than is common in Scotland. New Zealand and Fiji have both started single malt production as well, or restarted in the former’s case.
Much of the “whisky” produced in India is molasses-based, thereby placing it outside the recognized definition of whisky as a non-neutral, cereal-based, aged spirit. Some single malt whisky is produced domestically however, with Amrut, Mohan Meakin’s Rampur, and Paul John all exported. McDowell’s single malt is available on the domestic market. (There is also a single malt distillery, Muree, in Pakistan.) Barley tends to come from Rajasthan, while the ambient temperature results in rapid maturation cycle. While evaporation rates (angel’s share) are 2–5 percent in Scotland, in southern India they can reach up to 16 percent per annum. Similar subtropical conditions exist in Taiwan, which has had two malt whisky distilleries—Kavalan and Nantou—built since 2005. The temperature results in whiskies reaching full maturity in four to five years.
Single malt has been a significant part of the experimentation of the new wave of small-scale American and Canadian distillers, and moves are underway to create a definition for this new style. As in the rest of the world, while the approach may take its lead from Scotland, the whiskies also have their own style, with considerable input from the craft brewing industry in terms of levels of malt roasting and yeast. A wide range of raw material has also been used for smoke, from local peat in the Pacific Northwest to mesquite in Sonora and Texas.
There has been whisky made in Brazil since the late 1970s, while Argentina, Peru, and Mexico all now have single malt distilleries (Mexico, at least, has a tradition of grain distilling dating back at least to the seventeenth century). So far, there are only two single malt producers in the African continent, both in South Africa. See Andean South America; Brazil; and Mexico.
Single malt is also now being made close to Scotland. Many of the new distilleries in Ireland are making single malt as well as single pot-still whisky (indeed, the Bushmills distillery in Northern Ireland has been making single malt since the late eighteenth century), while Wales has had a malt distillery since 2004. England, too, has a growing number of distilleries producing single malt, often in conjunction with other spirits. See whisky, Irish.
Broom, Dave. The World Atlas of Whisky: The New Edition. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2014.
Ronde, Ingvar, ed. Malt Whisky Yearbook 2017. Shrewsbury, UK: MagDig Media, 2016.
Roskrow, Dominic, Gavin D. Smith, Juergen Diebel, and Davin de Kergommeaux. Whisky Opus: The World’s Greatest Distilleries and Their Whiskey. New York: DK, 2012.
By: Dave Broom