Every year, on the third Saturday of May, whisky is celebrated world over. Established in 2012 by Blair Bowman, World Whisky Day is the first ever such event to recognize Whisky. It has since been celebrated in more than 40 countries every year, from bars in Kuala Lumpur to restaurants in Canada and homes in Australia.

World Whisky Day is not just about knocking back a few drams, it’s also a chance to shed light on the quality of the spirit, appreciating the craft and its complexities. Take scotch for instance. For a whisky to be scotch, it must be made entirely in Scotland. Moreover, for a whisky to legally be called a scotch, it must be aged for a minimum of three years in oak casks. The number of distilleries, maturation ages and blends have made scotch Scotland’s gift to the world. Here’s a quick 101 on scotch and its varieties:

Play

There is plenty of room for exploration when it comes to Scotch. Single malts are often referred to as “the good stuff” offered at the tail end of a house party, reserved only for a few close friends. And then there are blended scotches that take as much craft and artistry to make. Contrary to popular opinion, single malts and blends are not meant to be rivals. They are two entirely different types of whiskies and cannot be compared in terms of quality or superiority, as discussed in this video.

Play

The art of blending involves selecting single malt whiskies from a wide range of distilleries and combining those with whiskies made with wheat and maize, also known as grain whiskies. The resulting product is a blended scotch that offers a distinctive interplay of flavours. The real artistry comes into play while marrying different blends; integrating and balancing the flavours of different single malts and grain whiskies from different distilleries.

Starting in 1834, the Chivas brothers helped pioneer the art of marrying aged whiskies, perfecting a smoother and richer experience.

What makes a blended scotch even more fascinating are all the variables in play: fermentation time, still shape, cask type, climate and age. Blended scotch reflects the orchestrating skills of a master blender. This artistry can be experienced in any bottle from the Chivas Regal range.

Whisky can get complicated, especially with some of its highfalutin reputation. Now that you have enough conversational fodder, invite your friends over and join the festivities. Single malt or blended, neat or on the rocks, at the heart of it, all you need to celebrate World Whisky Day is some good company to celebrate the magic of whisky.

This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of Chivas and not by the Scroll editorial team.