Most recently, Malting Season was released, the first whisky to be made using barley malted inhouse at BenRiach in a century, along with Smoke Season, the distilleryвЂ™s most heavily peated whisky to date. But thereвЂ™s a lot more that goes into these excellent single malts as well as far as the range of casks used for maturation, including ex-bourbon, sherry, port, virgin oak, and rum.

As you can guess, one of each is peated, the other is not. The most accessible and affordable whiskies are simply and directly named: The Original Ten and The Smoky Ten, The Twelve and the Smoky Twelve. BenRiach was acquired by drinks conglomerate Brown Forman, owner of Jack DanielвЂ™s and Woodford Reserve, a few years ago as mentioned before, and the core lineup was relaunched with new bottle designs, names, and expressions. ItвЂ™s also one of the few distilleries that still does its own floor maltings, albeit occasionally, in which the barley is soaked to germinate and then dried onsite before distillation (this is usually done by malting houses nowadays). There are so many to choose from (over 130 and counting), but here are 12 of the best single malt scotch distilleries making whisky right now.Д«enRiach isnвЂ™t the best known scotch distillery out there, but it is really quite interesting and produces some fantastic whisky. Pepper, go for it (but maybe also give the whisky a try on its own as well). Hell, if you want to mix a $300 bottle of whisky with Diet Dr.

Whisky is supposed to be fun, so donвЂ™t listen to anyone who says you shouldnвЂ™t add ice or you have to add water to enjoy your dram properly.

Whatever type of whisky you choose to drink, remember that thereвЂ™s no right or wrong way to enjoy it. Regardless, the distilleries that don't use coloring at all in their whiskies will proudly and loudly let this be known. Some people are staunchly against this, believing it affects the character of the whisky, while others argue that it makes no noticeable difference. (Peat is measured in ppm, or parts per million the higher the ppm, the smokier the whisky will be.) Legally, a small amount of caramel coloring can be used for color consistency in single malts. While Islay in particular is known for using peat in the malting process, which gives its whisky that smoky flavor, the majority of scotch is not smoky at all. There are five or six different whisky regions in Scotland, depending on who you ask, each with its own character-Lowlands, Speyside, Highlands, Campbeltown, Islay, and (sometimes) Islands. And blended malt is a blend of malt whiskies, with no grain whisky included. Blended scotch, on the other hand, is a combination of malt and grain whisky that usually comes from many different distilleries. So a bottle of Glenfiddich 12, for example, may be a blend of a few hundred barrels, but all of them come from the Glenfiddich distillery, and the 12-year-old age statement refers to the youngest whisky in the mix. A quick primer on the differences between these different styles: 'Single malt' means that the whisky comes from one distillery and is made from 100-percent malted barley.

Macallan whiskey vs glenfiddich