Step by step
Reading the label
After seven stops through legal text, it's time to get practical: with just a few simple steps, you'll be able to read any whisky label like someone who knows the rules behind it, whether the bottle comes from Scotland, Kentucky, Ireland, or Japan.
First glance: category and origin
Start with the main term on the label. If it reads Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Straight Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, or Japanese Whisky, all the rules you've learned throughout this journey automatically apply, from cask requirements to minimum maturation time. If there's no country designation and it simply says Whisky, only the EU minimum standard from the first stop applies. That's a considerably lower baseline.