Barrel for at least two years in new, charred oak containers. Other forms of whisky aged in used barrels cannot be called "straight". International laws require any whisky bearing the label "Scotch" to be distilled and matured in Scotland for a minimum of three years and one day in oak casks. By Canadian law, Canadian whiskies must "be aged in small wood for not less than three years", and "small wood" is defined as a wood barrel not exceeding capacity. Since the U.S. law requires the use of new barrels for several popular types of whisky, which is not typically considered
Scotch Malt Whisky Society of a Sumo wrestler surfing on the label. As of September 2010, around 3,597 single casks had been bottled by the Society since 1983. Society whisky is bottled at its original cask strength, typically upwards of 55 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). It is more common in the Scotch whisky industry to reduce the spirit at bottling to around 40 per cent and put it through a chill filtering process, which prevents it from clouding at low temperatures. Scotch Malt Whisky Society The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles