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A Classification of Pure Malt Scotch Whiskies

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  • François‐Joseph Lapointe
  • Pierre Legendre

Abstract

Single‐malt Scotch whiskies are produced by 109 distilleries in Scotland. The layman may wonder what are the major types of single malts that can be recognized, and what are their chief characteristics and best representatives, whether there is a geographical component in that classification and whether the various categories of characteristics lead to the same classification. This paper provides an answer to these questions, applying an array of statistical methods to a database derived from a connoisseur's description of these liquors. The taster's literary descriptions of Scotches were turned into a numerical database (109 Scotches × 68 binary variables). A first classification was produced by distance computation and hierarchical clustering. Since it was significantly related to the regions of Scotland, a second classification was computed with a spatial contiguity constraint, to divide Scotland into regions where Scotches are homogeneous in their organoleptic characteristics. to explore the congruence of the categories of characteristics, the five databases corresponding to nose, colour, body, palate and finish characteristics were compared by using statistical tests of significance: Among the raw data tables, among distance matrices and among classifications derived from these distance matrices. Most types of characteristic lead to congruent results, despite the loss of information that occurs when moving from one level to the next.

Suggested Citation

  • François‐Joseph Lapointe & Pierre Legendre, 1994. "A Classification of Pure Malt Scotch Whiskies," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 43(1), pages 237-257, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssc:v:43:y:1994:i:1:p:237-257
    DOI: 10.2307/2986124
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    Cited by:

    1. Pecchioli, Bruno & Moroz, David, 2023. "Do geographical appellations provide useful quality signals? The case of Scotch single malt whiskies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Richter, Magnus, 2017. "Time and quality efficiency of Scotch single malt whisky production: An empirical two-model DEA approach," Ilmenauer Schriften zur Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre, volume 2, number 22017.
    3. François-Joseph Lapointe & Pierre Legendre, 1995. "Comparison tests for dendrograms: A comparative evaluation," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 12(2), pages 265-282, September.
    4. Véronique Campbell & Pierre Legendre & François-Joseph Lapointe, 2009. "Assessing Congruence Among Ultrametric Distance Matrices," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 26(1), pages 103-117, April.

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