If you stumbled onto MM by accident, you may not have been properly introduced to 'the water of life'.
Or maybe you have been introduced, so you want to learn more about the wonderful world of whisky.
Anyway, this 'Beginner's Guide' to single malt whisky would be a good place to start. The guide is
aimed mainly at visitors of the MM website who have little or no previous experience with single malt
Scotch whisky. Apart from loads of general background information about the history, distillation and
maturation of single malt Scotch whisky the Beginner's Guide offers trivia, hints, tips and tricks.
The information in the Beginner's Guide to single malt whisky is divided in these 10 chapters;

- Chapter 1: Fundamentals - So, what is single malt Scotch whisky exactly and why is it special?
- Chapter 2: Vocabulary - An entire chapter dedicated to terminology and pronunciation and stuff.
- Chapter 3: Geography - The various malt whisky regions of Scotland, from Lowlands to Highlands.
- Chapter 4: Distillation - The production process begins with malted barley and ends with 'spirit'.
- Chapter 5: Maturation - All the fresh spirit needs to evolve into real whisky is time - lots of it.
- Chapter 6: Bottling - At some point the whisky is ready for bottling, so it can actually be distributed.
- Chapter 7: Shopping - Enough dry theory now, let's get down to business: how to spend your hard earned cash wisely.
- Chapter 8: Enjoyment - About glassware, adding water to your dram, temperature and all those other pesky little details.
- Chapter 9: Practice - And now, finally, it's time to actually pour yourself a dram or two of whisky - preferably single malt.
- Chapter 10: Conclusion - Some final words of whisky wisdom, as well as an e-book review that inspired me to start work on...

... (drumroll) ...

... the Advanced Beginner's Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky - a downloadable PDF with all the information you'll need to evolve from a (relative) 'beginner' in the field of single malts to a fully fledged 'connoisseur'.  However, that guide isn't available just yet...
 
 

 
Ah, yes.... I've started work on the brand new Distillery Data section of Malt Madness.
However, I'm afraid you'll have to visit the old distillery data section in the 'frozen' ADHD
version of the website for a while longer for some of the complete distillery profiles. I had
managed to complete some forty profiles (for the distilleries who's names started with A-E)
when the website crashed in 2006. Check out the brand new Distillery Data section of
the new site for fresh data on all distilleries in Scotland & a growing number of profiles.
Apart from the distillery profiles, the new DD section also provides a few additional pages
like an overview of malt whisky brands (you won't find the Port Charlotte or Stronachie
distillery anywhere for example) and pages for the various whisky regions of Scotland.
 
The Lex-icon on Malt Maniacs offers an overview of all malt whisky distilleries world-wide.
As far as Scotland is concerned, the 'linked' distillery names below lead to fresh profiles;

Aberfeldy - Aberlour - Ailsa Bay - Allt A' Bhainne - Ardbeg - Ardmore - Arran - Auchentoshan - Auchroisk - Aultmore
Balblair - Balmenach - Balvenie - Banff - Ben Nevis - Benriach - Benrinnes - Benromach - Ben Wyvis - Bladnoch - Blair Athol
Bowmore - Brackla - Braeval - Brora - Bruichladdich - Bunnahabhain - Caol Ila - Caperdonich - Cardhu - Clynelish - Coleburn
Convalmore - Cragganmore - Craigellachie - Daftmill - Dailuaine - Dallas Dhu - Dalmore - Dalwhinnie - Deanston - Dufftown
Edradour - Fettercairn - Glen Albyn - Glenallachie - Glenburgie - Glencadam - Glencraig - Glen Deveron - Glendronach - Glendullan
Glen Elgin - Glenfarclas - Glenfiddich - Glen Flagler - Glen Garioch - Glenglassaugh - Glengoyne - Glen Grant - Glengyle - Glen Keith
Glenkinchie - Glenlivet - Glenlochy - Glenlossie - Glen Mhor - Glenmorangie - Glen Moray - Glen Ord - Glenrothes - Glen Scotia
Glen Spey - Glentauchers - Glenturret - Glenugie - Glenury Royal - Highland Park - Hillside - Imperial - Inchgower - Inverleven
Isle of Jura - Kilchoman - Killyloch - Kinclaith - Kininvie - Knockando - Knockdhu - Ladyburn - Lagavulin - Laphroaig - Ledaig
Linkwood - Linlithgow - Littlemill - Loch Ewe - Loch Lomond - Royal Brackla - Royal Lochnagar - Lochside - Longmorn - Macallan
MacDuff - Mannochmore - Millburn - Miltonduff - Mortlach - Mosstowie - North Port / Brechin - Oban - Pittyvaich - Port Ellen
(Old) Pulteney - Rosebank - Royal Brackla - Royal Lochnagar - Saint Magdalene - Scapa - Speyburn - Speyside - Springbank
Strathisla - Strathmill - Talisker - Tamdhu - Tamnavulin - Teaninich - Tobermory - Tomatin - Tomintoul - Tormore - Tullibardine

The old DD section offers detailed (but slightly outdated) 'Distillery Profiles' on the 'unlinked' A-E distilleries mentioned above.
The distillery profiles offer more detailed information about the distillery, as well as tasting notes for a few of the bottlings I've sampled. There are almost a hundred active distilleries in Scotland , so finishing all distillery profiles will take me a while. The DD section has a few separate pages about topics like silent distilleries and new distillery projects as well. You can use the 'regional' pages in the DD section to find all the distilleries in a certain region. This could lead you to a few new discoveries. But then again, the 'terroir' theory has become less relevant in recent years, so if you're looking for new discoveries it might be wiser to check out the...
 
 

 
And here's another site section that's not actually completely reconstructed yet, I'm afraid.
Well, I'm making progress - I just have to do some more polishing on my 'Hit List' (a list of all my favourite
single malts), my 'Shit List' (a list of my least favourite single malts) and the 'Bang-For-Your-Buck-List' (a
list of affordable single malts). I've also added a brand new Hot List with a selection of recent recommendable 
releases. What's more; if you join the mailinglist you'll receive regular updates on;
 
1) Highly interesting new releases
2) Highly recommendable whiskies
3) Highly avoidable whiskies
4) Highly affordable whiskies

The old mAlmanac contained everything that didn't quite fit into one of the other four site sections of Malt Madness.
At the moment it contains a Hot List with recent releases, a Hit List with my personal favourite single malts, a Shit List with a few single malts that I think everybody should try to avoid and a Bang-For-Your-Buck List with single malts that (in my humble opinion) offer good value for money. Here is a little more information about each of the four lists in this section;

The Hot List - First on this overview of contents, it was actually the most recent addition to the mAlmanac.
As my Hit List grew larger and larger, the need for a list focusing on the most recent releases became larger and larger too... 

The Hit List - A selection of the best single malts I've sampled, ranked from best to worst.
Well, 'Best' and 'Worst' according to my purely personal standards, of course. My opinion is just that: an opinion.
One of the things that attracted me to single malts in the first place was the amazing diversity in character and style. It's hard for me to respond emotionally to a whisky that has little personality - which happens to be the case with a lot of blends. In my system 50 points equals a neutral attitude towards an alcoholic beverage - it gets me drunk but other than that I neither like or dislike it. On the way down along the scale it will become increasingly difficult to lure me into drinking the stuff. You may have to get physical to force whisky in the 0-10 points segment down my throat, for example. I like personality so much that I can forgive a whisky some offensive traits, as long as it has a character of its own. Even though I think they are 'avoidable' I awarded some single malts on the so-called 'Shit List' up to 59 points. The 'questionable' bracket runs from 60-69 points and contains malts that would be very drinkable if there weren't so many better alternatives. Don't let the name of the 'average' bracket fool you; any of these malts (scoring 70-79 points) is good, no question about it. In my system 75 points is sort of a benchmark. Anything scoring over 75 points is better than average - for a single malt, that is... Things get really interesting at 80 points and above. A score of 80-84 means 'recommendable' and 85-89 stands for 'highly reccommendable'. Very few malts ever reach the summit of the 'close to perfection' bracket (90 points or more). Do you want to know which ones have?
Well, just click onwards to the Hit List and find out...

The Shit List - Well, the name speaks for itself, doesn't it?
The 'Shit List' (pardon my French) is a (reassuringly short) list of single malt whiskies I didn't like.
There are plenty of 'other' whiskies (blends, vatted malts, etc.) and other alcoholic beverages (vodka, gin, etc.) I don't care for, but my comments on these drinks are reserved for the 'Deviant Drams' section. The personal scores I've added to each whisky on the Hit List and the Shit List should give you a pretty good idea how I personally feel about that whisky.

The Bang-For-Your-Buck List - Do I want to pay as little as possible for my malts just because I'm Dutch?
Probably not. That's why I took a long hard look at my Hit List and played a little with my pocket calculator.
The results explain why I rarely invest my money in the bottles at the very top of my Hit List.
 
 

 
Finally, a site section that IS finished - sort of... 
Everything is still rough around the edges, but at least the Liquid Log is surfable
again on the Malt Madness server. So, let me tell you a little more about my log...
 
Since 1997 I've kept a Liquid Log - which evolved into a Liquid Blog in 2005.
My liquid log is a chronological record of my quest to find the perfect single malt
whisky. Both the Log, the Blog and the Scrapbook that I added in 2007 contain
tasting notes and lighthearted observations about single malts & life in general.
Navigating the (b)log should be easy as pie; you can easily access all the older
log entries through the main Liquid Log page (covering the years 1997, 1998,
1999, 2000 and 2001) and the Archive that covers 2002, 2003 and 2004.
 
In 2005 my log mutated into a Blog - basically my log with more pictures.
The 'big crunch' at the end of 2006 forced me to change the format yet again
into my Scrapbook - all liquid log entries from a single season grouped together.
Via the arrows above each page you can move back & forth in time, as it were...
If you're not interested in the past, you can jump directly to the fresh entries.
 
The liquid (b)log and scrapbook contain all my scores and tasting notes.
However, they are scattered throughout hundreds of different (b)log entries.
That's why I included my Little Black Book with tasting notes on 500 malts in my Liquid Log.
However, by the time I had reached the 500 malts mark, both my 'physical' black book and its virtual counterpart of this site were full.
 
I replaced my actual little black book with a fresh one, but decided to upgrade the on-line version to the Track Record - an alphabetical overview of my scores for the more than 2,000 single malt Scotch whiskies that I've sampled and scored between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2007. If you're looking for a score or tasting notes on a specific single malt, that would probably be the best place to check. Clicking on the name of a whisky will take you directly to the liquid log entry that contains my tasting notes and further comments.
Easy as pie, eh?
 
 

 
Please note that my Little Black Book and Track Record only contain notes for single malt Scotch whiskies.
I've added a seperate Deviant Drams section to Malt Madness, dealing with some other alcoholic beverages
like Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, bourbon whiskey, rye whiskey, cognac, armagnac, calvados, wodka, gin,
grappa, tequila, rum, beer, wine, port and sherry, as well as (single) grain whiskies, vatted malts and blends.
It's still under reconstruction but will offer an overview of my notes and scores for all drinks that are not:
 
1) Scotch - i.e. produced in Scotland and matured there for at least three years,
2) single - i.e. not blended with the product from another distillery,
3) malt - i.e. distilled exclusively from malted barley (not corn, rye, etc.),
4) whisky - i.e. distilled grain spirit (from pot stills and column stills).

In my humble opinion, the enjoyment of single malt whisky is only enhanced further by an occasional 'detour'.
For one thing, comparing the occasional blend or bourbon 'head-to-head' with a single malt reminds one why malts are special.
But enough about that - as I said the new Deviant Drams section is still under reconstruction. The good news is that another section of Malt Madness has now evolved into a brand new separate website, aimed at the real anoraks amongst us.
I mean, of course....
 
 
 

 
I started the 'Malt Madness' site in 1995 and gradually more and more people started sending me reports about their alcoholic adventures. After a while I started to publish some of the more eloquent contributions on the site. More and more people discovered the site and by the end of 2001 we had evolved into an interactive collective of 12 'certified malt maniacs'. That was when we decided to combine our to collective contributions into a seperate E-zine; Malt Maniacs. When we published our umpteenth issue in January 2005 we had grown to a respectable 24 maniacs, reporting from all over the world. The 'malt maniacs' segment of the site is divided into five sections as well, but I suggest you click onwards if you want to find out more about that. Last but certainly not least is the WhiskyFun website from my fellow 'malt maniac' Serge Valentin from France. It is updated with fresh tasting notes every day and offers loads of other great stuff...
 
 

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Join the mailinglist if you want to know when new items will be added to Malt Madness & Malt Maniacs.
 
 

....Beginner's Guide - especially for novices
....Distillery Data - Scotch whisky distilleries
....mAlmanac - a collection of wit & wisdom
....Liquid Log - my diary with tasting notes
....Deviant Drams - reports on other spirits