Single Malt Or Blended Scotch: Which Should You Choose?

Just when you thought it was safe to sit back, relax, and enjoy a bite of this or a snifter of that, in come culinary semantics. Sometimes it's all in good fun, like the enduring discourse around whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich or if cereal is actually soup. But plenty of other times, food and drink lingo makes a bigger impact on what's on your plate and in your glass. Scotch is a big one. First of all, Scotch whisky must be made in Scotland, which is easy enough to follow, but some of its other nuances — like the difference between single malt and blended — can be a little trickier to pin down. Understanding those differences is key to picking your next pour. And price and availability are a good place to start.

Single malt Scotch whisky must be made in one single distillery. It must also be made with malted barley alone, absent of the corn kernels or rye seeds you might find in other spirits. Even within the relatively narrow field of single malt Scotch options, there can be a ton of flavor varieties and degrees of smokiness, peatiness, sweetness, and fruitiness. Blended Scotch, on the other hand, can include not only other grains besides barley but also elements from different regional distilleries. There's a lot of flavor variations here, too, and also a larger market. And that larger market, naturally, comes with a larger number of great, affordable options to choose from.

A lot of folks seem to consider single malt the finer Scotch selection, but the relative exclusivity that comes from its smaller footprint is not the entire story. Johnnie Walker, for example, is as close to a household name as any liquor can get, and its Blue Label blended Scotch is plenty spendy. It's also excellent, but its considerably cheaper, beginner-friendly Red Label is rather nice as well. The latter is also the smarter choice for anyone just dipping their nose into the wide world of blended Scotch. Johnnie Walker is also consistently the best-selling Scotch in the United States, so a few of its hues should be easily sourced near you.

Glenfiddich is a wonderful single malt Scotch that often falls closer to the lower end of the more ubiquitous Johnnie Walker's price points. That somewhat gentle cost also makes it somewhat beginner-friendly, as it isn't some life-changing investment, especially if you find you can't stand the stuff on your first whiff. That reaction isn't likely in any case, as its soft, smooth flavor profile is generally pretty palate pleasing to anyone actively seeking this sort of sip. Glenfiddich is admittedly less popular than something like Johnnie Walker, but its availability at certain big box stores doesn't exactly make it a rare find. You want to drink your Scotch the correct way in either case, but there is still hope if you just don't like it even in ideal conditions. A good, old Scotch and soda might provide enough dilution to turn you onto the stuff.