Best Buy Scotch Whisky

I was looking for information on the best buy Scotch whisky, a Scotch whisky that had not only a pleasant drink ability but was also a value for money spent. Inexpensive very rarely translated into best buy in Scotch whisky or many other products for that matter.

This project began as a combination of curiosities. I had a curiosity of how little I knew and a curiosity of how willing strangers would be to educate a relative novice on this subject matter. The data collected surprised me on both accounts.

I enjoy Scotch whisky from time to time, but I am far from an expert on the subject. I approached a group called Whisky Enthusiasts on the Linked In social networking site to gather information. I did some basic research into the subject matter and then posted a query to the group looking for volunteers to answer a brief survey on the subject of Scotch whisky.

The group that responded was made up of 80% Europeans and 20 % Americans, I felt this would be accurate representations for this subject. After all, golf was invented in Scotland as well as Scotch whisky, so why not look to the Europeans for their expertise in the subject matter.

I presented six questions to each participant as well as the ability to add any additional information that they felt would be appropriate on the subject matter.

The questions where as follows:
1.)    Which category of Scotch whisky do you enjoy most often?
2.)    Which type of cask used to mature your Scotch whisky would you choose?
3.)    Which region of Scotland is your favorite Scotch whisky from?
4.)    How do you enjoy your Scotch whisky served?
5.)    Your favorite Scotch whisky comes from which distiller?
6.)    Which age and style of Scotch whiskey do you enjoy most often?

The first question overwhelming was answered as single malt. Some respondents noted that occasionally they will drink vatted malt or a single grain whisky, but none reported that they would drink a blended scotch whisky under any circumstance.

The second question had more balance to the answers as 40% answered they prefer a sherry cask to mature their Scotch whisky, another 40% answered a specific type of oak such as French Oak and the remaining 20% answered bourbon cask. Producers of American bourbon are required to use a new cask for each edition of their bourbon so once the cask is used they are then sold to distillers of Scotch whisky.

Question three again had a very heavily favored answer of the Island of Islay. 70% of respondents named Islay as the region that produces their favorite Scotch whisky.

Neat was the popular answer to how our participants enjoy their Scotch whisky. Just 30% indicated a splash of water to unlock the flavor of their Scotch whisky.

Laphroaig, Highland Park, Ardbeg and Talisker represented the answer to favorite distiller as the most popular answers.

Age and style were also well represented with 12 year old, 16 year old and 21 year old varieties from the various favorite distillers.

One comment from a participant that struck me as very profound when asked if there were any additional comments he wanted to make about Scotch whisky. The answer hit straight to the point, “Scotch whisky is amazingly complex given that all of it is made from water and barley”.

The community of Whisky Enthusiasts at Linked In was very helpful in assisting me with this project. Although this is far from scientific, it gives a nice cross section of what Scotch drinkers from around the world enjoy about the whisky that has it origins in the birthplace of golf.