The 2021 Spring Semester

A NEAT Dive Into

Single Malt Scotch (Unpeated)

The spring is fast approaching and that means it’s time for our second whiskey, or should I say, whisky tasting course! Instead of hopping between whiskey categories from one tasting to the next like we’ve been doing with the blind tasting events, you'll get the opportunity to focus on one single (pun intended) category. And for the spring we’ll be focussing on Single Malt Scotch Whisky. For those of you that assume all scotch is smoky, this course will refute that assumption. We’ll be tasting all unpeated (non-smoky) scotches.

The course will include four “lessons” plus one final taste test (5 weeks in total) with each tasting compounding on lessons from the prior one. We’ll explore the different whisky producing regions of Scotland and the different maturation practices throughout scotch. You'll receive everything you need for the course up front. This means, all the whiskies, tastings sheets, bottle neck tags and informational videos. The first tasting is guided as an intro into the course and the remaining tastings are done on your own, so that you can fit them into your schedule. There are videos to go along with each tasting that will provide you with all the information you need for the tastings. We'll have weekly calls to discuss how that week's tasting went, the lessons learned from the tasting and any questions or challenges that popped up.

By the end of this course, you will be highly proficient in Scotch whisky. Not only will you get to try 15 different single malt scotches, but you'll learn the ins and outs of the whisky making process and how it impacts the flavors. For those of you that took the bourbon course in the fall, you’ll remember how much emphasis was placed on the bourbon’s mash bill. However, single malts are all made from 100% malted barley, meaning the emphasis will shift to distillation and maturation practices. You'll be able to walk into a bar, liquor store and whisk(e)y distillery with the confidence to ask questions and converse because you'll know your shit. Your gained knowledge will undoubtedly carry over to other whisk(e)y categories.