Beginner's Guide to Whisky and Whiskey

Are you an up-and-coming drinker? Do you want to graduate past the "jack and coke" stage of drinking and start drinking like you mean it? Then it's time you started drinking whiskey. Here's a basic primer on the most popular types of brown water.

The three most popular types of whisky in the world are Scotch Whisky, Irish Whiskey, and American Whiskey. Other countries produce whisky as well, and we'll touch on that briefly.

Scotch Whisky
First and foremost we have the grandfather of brown water, Scotch whisky. There are two broad categories of Scotch, Single Malt and Blends. Single Malt means that malted barley is the only grain ingredient in the whisky and that it is the product of a single distillery, whereas a Blended Scotch will combine malts and other grain whiskys to create its flavor. Also, different regions of Scotland are known for different flavor characteristics in their whisky.

Entry level single malt: Glenlivet 12
High end single malt: Macallan 18

Entry level blend: Dewars
High end blend: Johnny Walker Blue Label

American Whiskey
The most famous American Whiskey is of course bourbon whiskey, which is the official spirit of the United States. For an American whiskey to be bourbon, there are certain checkboxes that must be hit, but the most important is that the mash must be at least 51% corn. Other popular American Whiskies are Jack Daniels, a Tennessee whiskey, and rye whiskey, where the primary ingredient is (duh) rye.

Entry level quality bourbon: Buffalo Trace
High end bourbon: Barterhouse Kentucky Bourbon 20 year old

Irish Whiskey
There are some really amazing Irish whiskies out there, especially once you get past the Jameson tier and into something a bit more substantial.

Entry level: 2 Gingers
High End: Teeling Whiskey Small Batch

Other whiskeys from the world
The US, Ireland and Scotland aren't the only nations that produce whiskey. The two other nations that produce a lot of brown water are Canada, and more importantly Japan. Generally speaking, Canadian whiskey is inferior to comparable American products (sorry Canada) so you're better off with bourbon if that's what you're after.

Japan on the other hand has started producing single malt whisky that is every bit as good as what's coming out of Scotland. They have a near maniacal attention to detail and water quality, which results in an amazing product.

Entry level Japanese whisky: Yamazaki 12
High end: Suntory Hibiki 17 year old