介绍：Charlie MacLean是最著名的威士忌作家之一。 自1983年成立以来，他一直参与SMWS（苏格兰麦芽威士忌协会），并自1992年以来在品酒小组中占有一席之地。
How to Read a Whisky Label ?
by Charlie MacLean
1.The Title
The first thing is very obvious, is the title, the name of the whisky.
首先，最明显不过的就是标题了，即威士忌的名字。
Being single malts, they come from an individual distillery.
只要是单一麦芽威士忌，它们就会产自一个独立的酿酒厂。
So it tells you where it comes from, what distillery it comes from, what region it comes from.
所以酒标上会告诉你威士忌来自哪里，产自哪个酒厂、哪个地区。
The label will also tell you where that distillery is located, what style of malt whisky it is.
酒标上会告诉你该酿酒厂的位置，以及这款麦芽威士忌的风格。
2.The Volume
By law, it has to tell you the volume, the capacity of the bottle. Usually typically it’s 70cl, in some markets 75cl.
根据法律规定，酒标上必须注明
容量，即酒瓶内威士忌的容量。最常见的是700ml，在某些市场上是750ml。In the European Union, it has to be 70cl now.
流通于欧盟的威士忌，酒的容量必须是70cl。
3.The Strength
And it tells you the strength, 40% and 43% are standard bottling strengths.
酒标上还会注明每瓶酒的酒精浓度，40％和43％都是标准的装瓶强度。
In some cases, the whisky is bottled at higher strength, so called cask strength.
在某些情况下，威士忌会以更高的酒精浓度装瓶，这就是所谓的原桶强度。
Although cask strength is not actually defined in law, but where the whisky might be bottled in 58%, 62% whatever.
虽然法律上没有明确定义原桶强度，但威士忌能够以58％或62％等浓度装瓶。
That is an indication that it has been bottled straight from the cask.
这种高浓度表明威士忌是从桶中直接装瓶的。
4.The Bottler
It says by law, it has to say:‘ distilled and bottled in Scotland’. By law nowadays in the new regulations, malt whisky must be bottled in Scotland.
接着，我想要指出的是装瓶商。按照法律规定，酒标上必须标注：在苏格兰蒸馏和装瓶。根据法律的新规定，麦芽威士忌必须在苏格兰装瓶。
5.The Age Statement
And then the final thing is the age statement. That is the age of the youngest component whisky.
最后的一点是陈年时间。酒标上标示的年限通常指的是最年轻基酒在橡木桶中的陈年时间。
So each of these single malts will be mixtures of a number of casks.
事实上，每种单一麦芽威士忌中都有可能混合了多个桶的威士忌。
But the age 18 is the youngest cask. So you mean they can put a 25 year old Bowmore into this one. Probably wouldn’t, they could do. But they cannot put any cask under 18 if it’s bearing an 18-year-old age statement.
（举波摩18年为例）但18年威士忌一定是基酒中最年轻的。也就是说生产商可以把25年的波摩加进这款酒。他们不一定会这么做，但做了也是合法的。如果这瓶酒里面混合了一种低于18年的酒，酒标上的陈年时间就不能标示18年了。
祝大家周末愉快！
-END-
閱讀更多 中威網 的文章
