What Actually is Scotch Whisky? Everything You Need to Know

Sunday, 28 September 2025 at 15:01

Scotch whisky is a term that is commonly found on a bottle. It's not just whisky from Scotland, there is much more to it. This is what the term Scotch Whisky entails.

FAQ

What is Scotch whisky?
Scotch is whisky made in Scotland, according to strict rules set out in the Scotch Whisky Regulations.

What types of Scotch whisky exist?
Single Malt, Single Grain, Blended Malt, Blended Grain, and Blended Scotch whisky.

Why is Scotch whisky so special?
It's one of the oldest geographical indications in the world and a protection of Scottish heritage.

All Scotch is whisky, but not all whisky is Scotch

Whisky is made all over the world, but everything is not Scotch whisky. As the name may suggest, Scotch whisky is from Scotland. Aside from this, there are strict rules surrounding Scottish whisky.

Not all Scottish whisky is, in fact, Scotch. In 1988, the Scotch whisky Act determined what Scotch had to adhere to in order to bear the name. The Scotch Whisky Act didn't just establish the term Scotch.

The law also immediately made it illegal to sell whisky as Scotch if it didn't comply with the rules. In addition, whisky could not have an alcohol percentage of more than 94.8 percent.

In 2009, the Scotch Whisky Regulations came into effect. In this, the rules surrounding Scotch were adjusted, improved, tightened, and the whisky packaging was also included. The regulation also lists the different whisky regions from Islay to Campbeltown.

What is Scotch, really?

Scotch is whisky that is 100 percent from Scotland. The distillery must have made a distillate in Scotland from water, malted barley (or other grains), and yeast. The maturation of the spirit must have lasted at least three years.

Whisky may only have matured in oak barrels of a maximum of 700 liters, once again, exclusively on Scottish soil.

Nothing else can be added to the whisky, except water and caramel coloring. This makes Scotch one of the purest forms of whisky in the world. Finally, the alcohol percentage must be at least 40% alcohol by volume (ABV), otherwise, it's not even whisky.

Five styles of Scotch whisky

The world of Scotch consists of five categories. We have listed them below:

Single Malt Scotch whisky Single Grain Scotch whisky Blended Malt Scotch whisky Blended Grain Scotch whisky Blended Scotch whisky

Although Single Malt Scotch whisky is undoubtedly the most famous, Blended Scotch whisky (a mix of different Scotch malt and grain whiskies) is the most drunk. Famous examples of Blended Scotch are Johnnie Walker and Ballantine’s.

So Scotch whisky is not just a name for whisky from Scotland, but is tied to an extensive set of rules which is also very old. Scotland isn’t the only place with such a set of rules for geographical indication. Japan, the United States, and other countries have them too.