I've just finished working on a list of blended whiskies that shows the distilleries that provide malt and grain whiskies for them; these are listed by blend and by distillery with the latter being split into separate sections for malt and grain.

The question I always ask in this context is - Do these distilleries sell off their best produce for blending, or is it just "reject" distillations that they would not want to bottle as their own single malt?

I've read somewhere that blended whisky makes up about 95% of total whisky output so I'd assume that the distilleries will supply the good as well as the maybe not so good for blending purposes. I know that there are some distilleries that make most (and maybe even all?) their product for blending purposes. It would be interesting to see official figures tho!

Many distilleries seem to regard the blended market as what keeps them in business, with the single malts acting the way Concorde did for British Airways: great for marketing and brand image. My impression is that the product that goes for blending is exactly the same product as the much smaller proportion (I've heard similar figures to Bruce) that ends up as single malts. I suspect, though, that what ends up in blends has not been maturing in casks for the 12, 18 or 21 years that it takes to produce most single malts.

Spirit produced by a distillery legally needs a minimum cask maturation period of 3 years before it can be called Scotch whisky: and my impression is that the majority which heads into blending is matured for much less time beyond this minimum three years, so is commercially a much more attractive proposition.

But all this is from a biassed standpoint: I've yet to taste a blended whisky (and I've tried a few that are regarded as "good") that doesn't, literally, leave a nasty taste in my mouth.

I doubt very much that a malt distillery would leave whisky in a cask for much more than 8 years if its bound for the blended market; after all, especially in the current financial climate, the distilleries rely on sales to keep them producing their current range of malts.

Having said that, I believe that if there is an age on a blend that represents the age of the youngest blend included... so that makes me wonder if there's no age does that mean the youngest malt has only spent the minimum amount of time required in the cask (3 years)! I'll try and find out if I am right about this... or if someone else knows please let us know!

I've added more info to the Blended Whisky list; the new information includes distilleries that are no longer active (either closed or silent/mothballed), but have historically provided their whisky for blends (and some of which may still be available for blending purposes!)

To make life a bit easier (for me?) I have split the Blended Whisky page in to two:

* listed by blend
* listed by distillery

Hopefully the info on one matches the info on the other!

As well as splitting the page I have included all the closed and silent/mothballed distilleries where I know the blends that they contributed to; I have also included blended malts and blended grains in the lists. So far almost all the info has been taken from The Scotch Whisky Distilleries by Misako Udo, which has been referenced at the bottom of each page. I have also included a brief disclaimer (which can be expanded) as follows:



Now that the details are as complete as they can be from the above book I will start looking at internet sourced (which will include wiki as well as individual distillery sites where possible). If anyone here can provide further info it would be much appreciated!