Water of remarkable clarity, a certain fuel -turf with unique aroma's- en a centuries old experience make Scotland the motherland of all whiskeys. And although there are plenty of other countries that have long made barrel ripened spirits from grains, the best whiskies will still be found in the Scottish highlands. Basically there are 2 major whisky families in Scotland. First, there is the single malts, which are made from just barley malt and are distilled in double kettles. Every distillery uses it's own style and some of the distilleries that are adjacent to the see may even add some iodine aroma. The scots prefer to use old wine or sherry barrels for the ripening of their whisky.
The grain whiskies, that are mass distilled, make up the second family. They hardly have any true character and are never consumed neat / straight. There are, however, used in blends, de best know and most sold whiskeys, which are made by mixing grain whisky with single malts.

Blends need to ripen for at least 3 years and are typically older. Blended whiskey are quite suitable for mixing in drinks. Much better than the malts that are much stronger tasting and refined. There is a choice to make between the light (not in alcohol percentage, but in color color and aroma) and the slightly heavier darker whiskeys.

Although the Irish claim -without any hard evidence- to have invented the whisky, or in their case: the whiskey, their whiskeys are unique because of the specific production methods like the triple distillation. This method is hardly know in Scotland.

The ripening of Irish Whiskey, which takes much longer that the Scotch (5 to 7 years), takes places after the blending. These whiskeys differentiate themselves from their scottish cousins by balance and refinement.