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Spirits

Scotch Whisky

  • Spirit
  • Alcoholic

At a Glance

SpiritType

What is Scotch Whisky?

Scotch Whisky is whisky distilled and matured in Scotland under the Scotch Whisky Regulations, including a minimum three-year maturation period in oak casks and a minimum bottling strength of 40% ABV.

What does Scotch Whisky taste like?

Scotch Whisky spans multiple regulated categories and many regional and producer expressions; flavor varies with distillery character, peat use, maturation, cask and age rather than following one universal profile.

Scotch Whisky authority guide

What defines Scotch Whisky?

Regulated standard

Scotch Whisky must be distilled and matured in Scotland, matured in oak casks for at least three years, and bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV, subject to the Scotch Whisky Regulations and product specification.

Source: Scotch Whisky Association

The product-level view below is built from 9,655 approved WhatDrink whiskey records. It currently spans 156 named distilleries.

9,655
Products
55.4%
With age data
21.0%
With cask data
55.9%
With distillery data

Explore and compare whiskey types

These are related category pages, not aliases of Scotch Whisky.

Single Malt Scotch

Scotch regions in the product graph

Speyside
3,558 products · 55 distilleries
Highlands
1,954 products · 44 distilleries
Islay
1,791 products · 11 distilleries
Islands
673 products · 10 distilleries
Scotland - unspecified
653 products · 13 distilleries
Lowlands
610 products · 26 distilleries
Campbeltown
416 products · 3 distilleries

Age statements in the graph

5,349 products have an approved age statement, ranging from 1 to 85 years in the current dataset.

Common documented cask types

Sherry cask · 982Bourbon cask · 441Oloroso sherry cask · 318Pedro Ximenez sherry cask · 107Port cask · 60Wine cask · 50Virgin oak · 33Rum cask · 29

Most represented distilleries

Macallan · 506Springbank · 261Bruichladdich · 218Glenfarclas · 202Bowmore · 169Glenrothes · 162Ardbeg · 153Highland Park · 146Dalmore · 139Balvenie · 115

Representative products

  • Ardbeg, Single Malt Single Cask Strength 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel Cask No 10 Bottled 2020, Islay
    single malt · Ardbeg
  • Ardbeg, Single Malt Single Cask Strength 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel Cask No 5824 Bottled 2019, Islay
    single malt · Ardbeg
  • Ardbeg, Single Malt Single Cask Strength Sherry Butt No 86 Bottled 2007, Islay
    single malt · Ardbeg
  • Benriach, Single Malt Single Cask Bottling - Batch 13 Peated/Oloroso Sherry Finish Cask No 7569 29YO Bottled 2016, Speyside
    single malt · 29 years · BenRiach
  • Benriach, Single Malt Single Cask Bottling - Batch 13 Tawny Peated/Port Finish Cask No 5462 39YO Bottled 2016, Speyside
    single malt · 39 years · BenRiach
  • Glengyle, Single Malt Kilkerran Cask Strength Bourbon Cask Matured 8YO 55.8%, Campbeltown
    single malt · 8 years · Glengyle
  • Glengyle, Single Malt Kilkerran Cask Strength Bourbon Cask Matured 8YO Bottled 2025 55.6%, Campbeltown
    single malt · 8 years · Glengyle
  • Glengyle, Single Malt Kilkerran Cask Strength Port Cask Matrured 8YO 57.9%, Campbeltown
    single malt · 8 years · Glengyle
  • Glengyle, Single Malt Kilkerran Cask Strength Sherry Cask Matured 8YO 57.4%, Campbeltown
    single malt · 8 years · Glengyle
  • Glengyle, Single Malt Kilkerran Cask Strength Sherry Cask Matured 8YO 58.1%, Campbeltown
    single malt · 8 years · Glengyle

Coverage percentages describe approved fields in WhatDrink's current specialist dataset; an unfilled field is not treated as a negative claim.

Drink counts and recipe data are based on published WhatDrink recipes. Figures may vary as new recipes are added.