Dubbed ‘the home of whisky’, Scotland has a reputation for producing internationally renowned quality whiskies, but with their American cousins enthusiastically promoting the popularity of their own bourbon whiskey on the world stage are jocks under threat of losing their reputation? Certainly they have come under fire recently for allegedly clinging to a reputation that is no longer founded. In his book ‘Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible’ the writer and renowned whisky critic and enthusiast stated that in general American bourbon had over taken Scottish whisky in terms of taste and quality and that the best of these are distilled in Kentucky. The further reasoned that this was not due to the distillation process, as the copper stills used remove impurities and still produce a high grade spirit, but instead due to the use of candle treated sherry barrels for casking which tarnished the barrels with sulphur leaving the whisky tasting bitter.
Many have refuted these claims and insist that the quality of whisky produced by Scotland is as high now as it has ever been. The Scotch Whisky Association too has hit out stating that the sulphur does not in any way damage the whisky when it is casked and that the matter is in fact a reflection of Jim Murray’s own personal tastes and preferences.
However this is not to say that the best of Scottish whiskies have declined in their quality. Perhaps in general terms there are a number of lesser whisky producers that trade heavily on Scotland’s established reputation. In real terms this is almost inevitable since copy-cat producers are bound to attach themselves to the apron strings of any successful brand. Coupled with the increase in demand from Asia a gap has been left in the market ready for exploitation, but Scotland still retains its crown for producing some of ‘the best’ whiskies in the world. Certainly ‘Bowmore’ whisky which is distilled on the island of Islay is moving from strength to strength having piped its rivals to two of the top spots in this year’s ‘icons of whisky awards’, with another of Islay’s finest; ‘Ardberg’ winning ‘best single malt’ at the world whiskies awards. The Scots show no sign of slowing the pace with Mortlach, Glenglassaugh and Glendronach all releasing new bottling’s at the start of this month.
Although if we consider for a moment that American bourbon and Scottish whisky are innately different to the point that we can classify them as two different spirits, it seems that neither argument stands firm and that each spirit is remarkable in its own right. This debate between whisky and bourbon may be considered the same as comparing coca-cola to pepsi-cola; just because they have ‘cola’ in the name does not necessarily mean that they are the same thing or indeed trying to be the same thing, perhaps this is where the confusion lies.
It would appear then that this matter is in fact a debate of personal preferences. Whilst Scotland has a reputation for producing some of the finest whiskies in the world, America has its own established reputation as the producers of some of the best bourbon in the world. If you prefer whisky then drink whisky, if you prefer bourbon then drink bourbon, but do not try to measure the pair against each other.
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I’m a whisky and general spirit enthusiast, regularly blogging about the new and exciting ways to make and use them. If you would like to read more and keep up to date with us, you can do so on Twitter.
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