Whisky Forum - Most important elements in making single malt scotch?

Quaich1

I've read a lot of books on single malt scotch. There seems to be somewhat of a debate going on as to what are the most important elements hierarchically in terms of determining what creates the final distinctive product.

What order would you put them in, going from most important to least important. I'm listing them in no particular order to start:

***where the water comes from (what it naturally contains)
***length of maturation in cask
***type of barley used
***type of lyne arm used in distillation
***type of cask
***luck of the draw
***where the peat comes from
***wild card (what you think is important)
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Tom W · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:42 pm Post subject:

- Wildcard - QUALITY of cask
- Length of maturation in cask
- Type of cask used
- Where the water comes from (what it naturally contains)
- Type of lyne arm used in distillation
- Where the peat comes from
- Type of barley used
- Luck of the draw
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Blackadder · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:50 pm Post subject:

All are important, what is most important is how they all come together in the finished whisky which we taste

Innes · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 2:56 pm Post subject:

I always think the contribution the yeast makes to the finished whisky is not mentioned much and i believe the strain of yeast used can make quite a difference to the final flavour of the whisky

William · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:44 pm Post subject:

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I would list order of importance:

***type of cask
***length of maturation in cask
***type of lyne arm used in distillation
***type of barley used

I dont really think the water source has an impact on the final flavour although a good quality water source is very important.

For a peaty whisky the peat source is important. For example Highland Park use peat but a very different peat than the Islay distilleries, the peat on Orkney isnt as smoky as the peat on Islay.

My wild card would be yeast as mentioned above, i am sure nowadays they are able to change the strain of yeast they use to produce a certain profile of whisky for example if they want a more fruity whisky.