Blended Malt
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A blended malt, formerly called a vatted malt, or pure malt, is a blend of different single malt
whiskies Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...
from different distilleries. These terms are most commonly used in reference to Scotch whisky, or whisky in that style, such as Japanese whisky.


Blended

The legally anachronistic term ''vatted'' was used to describe the blending process but does not automatically equate to creation of a vatted malt. Likewise, the use of the term "blended" did not necessarily refer to the creation of what is typically referred to as a blended whisky. A blending of different casks or batches of single malt whisky produced from the same distillery is still considered a single malt whisky.


Malt

The "malt" part of the term refers to the use of a malted grain to make the whisky. In Scotch whisky, this grain is required to be
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
. Outside Scotland, whisky is produced from other malted grains, such as malted
rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
,Old Potrero Single Malt Straight Rye Whiskey
''Anchor Brewing Company''. (Accessed December 2010.)
and the term "rye malt whisky" is specifically recognized along with (barley-based) ''malt whisky'' in the code of federal regulations for whisky in the United States. Moreover, in much of the world, whisky is often made using grain that is not malted (for example, using maize in a corn mash). In practice, unless a different grain is specifically mentioned, a ''malt'' whisky is assumed to be made from
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
.


Scotch whisky

In the case of Scotch whisky, blended malts do not contain any whisky made from grains other than barley or spirits distilled using
continuous distillation Continuous distillation, a form of distillation, is an ongoing separation in which a mixture is continuously (without interruption) fed into the process and separated fractions are removed continuously as output streams. Distillation is the se ...
, unlike products labelled as " blended whisky". For the Scotch whisky industry, the terms ''vatted malt'' or ''pure malt'' have been reclassified as "blended malts" per the Scotch Whisky Regulations of 2009, and it has become unlawful to label Scotch Whisky using the prior terminology. When an age statement appears on the label of a Scotch blended malt whisky (or any other Scotch whisky), it refers to the amount of time spent in wooden aging
casks A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...
for the ''youngest'' (i.e., the least aged) whisky used in the product.


See also

* Outline of whisky


References

Malt whisky {{whisky-stub