Question About "Married" Scotches

[Jenflower8]

hi folks,
i'm new the forum and fairly new to the world of single malts. i thought i'd bring this question to the experts. :)

we have a few scotches (Ardbeg Uigeadail and Glenrothes Select Reserve) that are "marryings" of several single malts together but apparently are not considered blends. can someone explain why these are not considered blends? is it because it's only mixing single malts of the same distillery together versus blends that can have various scotches together?

thanks a bunch for clarifying this.

[BourbonDrinker]

Single cask single malts are just that, whisky from only one single cask from one distillery. (maybe with some water to get down to a specific %ABV).
Single malts on the other hand are usually "vatted" blends of many single malt casks from the same distillery. The age on the bottle is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. A 12 yr old could, for example, have many casks older than 12 years married together, but the youngest is 12 yrs. The casks need not be all the same. They could be a mix of sherry, bourbon, 1st fill, 2nd fill, etc. They are mixed to get a specific, consistent, flavor profile. In the case of the Ardbeg Uigeadail, they add sherry casks to alter the flavor profile. The Uigeadail is a fantastic malt BTW!
A "vatted malt" or a "vatted blend", like JW Green and Wild Scotsman 15, is a vatted blend of multiple single malts from different distilleries.
A blended scotch is a blend of one or more single malt whiskys with other (not malted barley) grain spirit added as well.
Hope that helps.
As for the marrying, some distilleries mix the different spirits together and let them sit and "marry" for an additional period of time before bottling. It could be weeks to years, and it could be back in casks, or metal vatting chambers
Cheers!.

[jwise]

I usually see the term "vatted" instead of "vetted", but otherwise all of the above information is spot on with my understanding.

[BourbonDrinker]

I usually see the term "vatted" instead of "vetted", but otherwise all of the above information is spot on with my understanding.

That's what I get for typing quickly on my iPhone. ;). Apparenty it doesn't like the word vatted.:D
Typo corrected above.

[Jenflower8]

thank you so much Etherman! and i agree, the Uigeadail is quite good! i don't like Ardbeg 10 year so i was really shocked that i liked the Uigeadail. it's definitely smoother and less peaty. a bit of a warm, leathery aftertaste.

[Theus]

BTW, the term "Vatted" is less used nowadays...
It is often used the term "Pure" instead of "Vatted".

Theus

[jwise]

The terms vatted malt, 100% pure malt, and just simply pure malt are all the same thing. All malt whisky; no grain whisky.

[blenderm]

According to the latest regulation change there's only "Blended Malt", the terms Vatted 100% Pure and Pure Malt and any other permutation can no longer be used on labels.

[jwise]

Really!? Hmmm... So, "Blended Malt" will be used on Johnnie Walker Green?

[blenderm]

According to the rule change which is quite specific a "vatted" malt or grain can only be called Blended Malt or Blended Grain. i.e. JW Green Blended Malt. There's nothing to stop them saying 100% or Pure on the back label.
I don't agree with it as vatted malt and grain have been about for at least 100 to 150 years but I believe this change was mainly caused by JW selling Cardhu as a vatted malt in Spain with the label purporting to be a sngle malt due to their lack of the single whisky, see
http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Cardhu::sub::Pure_Malt_Controversy

[BourbonDrinker]

Really!? Hmmm... So, "Blended Malt" will be used on Johnnie Walker Green?

New rules, new labels.
http://www.thefiftybest.com/wine_enthusiast/wine_art/j_walker.jpg

[Jojo]

Found this from one of my earlier posts....

There were some cases (according to Michael Jackson) where the term "Pure Malt" was used on a single malt scotch - Cardhu for one. However, this term was confusing for the customer because for example, it was also used on vatted malts such as Johnnie Walker Green - which is in fact a blend of 15 single malt whiskies from different distilleries. So which is it? Yes, I agree a marketing technique perhaps gone bad? The term "Pure Malt" is no longer used, however, if you see it on a bottle, it's one that has been around before the new legal term "Blended Malt" came into play. And, yes, today's bottles of Johnnie Walker Green indicate the new (legal) term "Blended Malt" on its label as Cardhu's label now reflects it's a single malt scotch whisky.