A Taste Of Thistle

By John Elson

There are two things a Highlander likes naked, goes an old Scottish saying, and one of them is malt whisky. Of late, the Kiltie's distilled delight has become an international connoisseur's joy. After several lackluster years, sales of Scotch worldwide (although not in the U.S.) are on the rise, led by the rare, distinctive whiskies known as single malts. The malts constitute only about 3.5% of all Scotch sales, but their dollar-value share of the market is twice that because of their relatively high price tags. Overall, sales have jumped from 1 million cases in 1980 to more than 2.6 million last year, with a fourth of that volume going to the U.S.

Single malts are the original Scotch whiskies. They are made from malted barley in copper-domed pot stills at 101 distilleries scattered throughout Scotland and are aged for at least four years in used sherry or bourbon casks. When combined with cheaper, less flavorsome grain whiskies, they become the blends that most consumers think of as Scotch. A quality brand, like Chivas Regal, may be 65% malt, with whiskies chosen from 40 different distilleries.

Most single malts are sold only to the blenders, but 70 distilleries bottle small amounts for sale to a growing body of purists who drink them neat or with a bit of water, or like brandy in postprandial snifters. Single malts are as different from one another as Burgundy wines are from Bordeaux: a soft, sweetish Lowland malt like Auchentoshan is a wholly different taste experience from Laphroaig, one of the tangy, medicinal whiskies produced on the isle of Islay (pronounced EYE-la). Part of the appeal of these whiskies, in fact, is their craggy names. Once you've learned how to pronounce it, who can resist ordering a dram of Bunnahabhain? (Try Bu-na-HA-ven.) Worldwide, the single- malt sales leader is Glenfiddich, owned by William Grant & Sons, but in the U.S. it runs a distant second to the Glenlivet, produced by Scotland's oldest licensed distillery (1824) and a shrewd purchase by Seagram's in 1977.

A survey by the Scotch Whisky Information Center in the U.S. concluded that single-malt fanciers are younger, more affluent and better educated than drinkers of blended Scotch. "People may be drinking less," says Peter Smith, the center's director, "but they are savoring more." Connoisseurs may eventually have more malts to savor. Several "silent" (mothballed) distilleries have lately sprung back to life. And next month Schenley < Affiliated Brands, an American subsidiary of Britain's United Distillers (Guinness), takes over U.S. distribution of six U.D.(G.)-owned malts. As a quick guide to the range of malt tastes, Schenley will sell them not just in 750-ml bottles but also in a six-pack of miniatures, complete with tasting notes.