American Malt Whiskey

Malt whiskies are probably most famously associated with Scotland, but a growing number of American distillers are now producing this style of spirit. There are some differences across the pond however - whilst Scottish distilleries are required to use 100% malted barley, American law permits a bottling to be labelled as 'malt whiskey' if the mashbill includes 51% or more malted barley. American malt whiskies also have to aged in freshly charred new oak barrels which means their flavour is usually closer to Bourbon or Rye rather than their Scottish equivalents.