The Balvenie - Doublewood, 12-year single malt Scotch whisky (Scotland)

Today's review will touch on a new category of beverages, never before reviewed at Sip and Puff - single malt scotch whisky. Scotch, like cigars, are not the most approachable of vices - not only are they an acquired taste, but good scotch is consumed in the smallest of quantities and quality bottles can run far upwards of $60 - some bottles in the thousands of dollars each.

Just like wine, there are numerous varieties of whiskies from around the world, made in many different ways using different ingredients. The only whiskies that can be called "Scotch" are whiskies made in Scotland in a manner decreed by law. This law, the Scotch Whisky Regulations, is similar to the German beer purity laws, which dictate which beers can be called "Oktoberfest." Many of these such laws date back to the Middle Ages and deal with established purity of beverages.

For example, to be Scotch whisky, a whisky has to be distilled in certain containers, using a certain set of ingredients (water and caramel color only) and made using a commonly-accepted method. This is not an exhaustive list, by far - there are many more regulations to which a whisky must adhere to be considered "Scotch."

Column stills at the Glenmorangie distillery.

The maximum strength of Scotch can be no more than 190 proof, or 94.8% alcohol. Yikes. The minimum strength is 80 proof, or 40% ABV. Scotch is also aged in casks, usually, for a period of time no less than 3 years (per the Scotch Whisky Regulations.) Many Scotch whiskys are aged for far longer.

Whisky casks aging. After bottling, the barrels are often sold for other purposes, like wine aging or beer fermenting.

Once the distillers are confident the whisky is ready to bottle, they'll take it out of the casks. Each bottle has an age statement on it declaring the age of the whisky inside. This is called a "guarantee-of-age" or "age declaration." Whisky law provides that Scotch must be at least 3 years old. Some whiskies are blends, in which case Scottish whisky law provides that the only guarantee-of-age that can be put on a bottle of blend is that of the youngest year of its constituent blends. For single-malts, that is, Scotch whisky distilled using only water and malted barley at one distillery, common ages are 12, 15, 18, 21, 25 and 30 years. As you can imagine, prices are commensurate with the age of the whisky. Usually, 12-year-old whiskies can fetch around $40 - $60 for the bottle, depending on distiller. One of my favorites, a Macallan cask-strength single malt, retails for $80. A 25-year whisky, like Glenlivet XXV, costs $429 retail.

Some of the rarest whiskies, like wines, can be extraordinarily expensive. A bottle of Glenfiddich 1937 sold for a cool $20,000. A bottle of Macallan 1946 whisky, a unique bottle made with peated malt (because of wartime demand for coal) sold at auction for $460,000.

Today's whisky is a 12-year-old Scotch, distilled and aged in two kinds of wood cask: whisky oak and sherry oak. The Balvenie family of whiskeys are distilled in Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland, and the whiskies produced there are considered Speyside whiskies - that is, a whisky distilled in the Spey river valley in northeast Scotland. Along with Macallan 12-year, this has become my house whisky. At $55 a bottle, it's very affordable and can be had as an everyday libation. I keep a bottle on hand.

This is a standard amount of whisky, also called a "dram." Sometimes whisky is measured in "fingers," so if you hold up your fingers horizontally to a glass, you can judge the amount of whisky inside. I don't measure, I just pour.

It's a nice yellow-colored liquid, with a very pungent and sharp nose of alcohol. As you might expect from an 86-proof liquor.

The taste is faint for the first half-second, but then really pungent and sharp. The development of the whisky is like a punch to your esophagus, full of alcohol and oaked wood. This alone is enough to deter many drinkers, but once the initial strength of the whisky is overcome, the true flavors develop. The great thing I like about this whisky is that it's smooth on the back end ... there's a nice finish if warm, oak flavors with an aftertaste of caramel and vanilla. That nutty taste comes from the second wooding, in sherry casks. It really coats the throat and is just perfect for cold, winter nights or in front of the fire. It's meant to be sipped and enjoyed over time. Serve it at room temperature, or with a drop of cold water. You can put ice it in, if you really wanted I guess, but why dilute such expensive whisky?

Whisky pairings do exist. I used to smoke cigars with my whisky, but that proved to be a bad idea since the flavors of both cigar and whisky were affected. Now if I'm going to smoke, I'll do it afterward. But you can pair whisky with food, such as...

Also known as "The Ron Swanson."

...bacon, of course!