A departure from my usual wine ponderings.  It was my pleasure to be part of a group of Twin Liquors Managers traveling to Scotland for a true Scotch education tour in July.  We were fortunate to have James McCartney, a Master of Scotch accompany us and were able to spend time with Ian Williams, Manager of Johnnie Walker Brands.  I have studied Scotch at length, personally and during my Sommelier training.  I thought I knew quite a bit about the regional characteristics of Scotches and would have told you that I could tell what flavors a Scotch contained based on the region that it was produced.  With Scotch, I was taught, everything from the grain to the glass leaves it's signature.  The air, water, grain and barrel all contribute to give Scotch it's regional signature.  While that is basically true, as with most things, it is a simplification of a complex process.  Our travels across the highlands from Speyside to Oban taught me that while Scotch has regional characteristics, ultimately the style is specific to the distillery that produces it.  Each distillery has created a variation of that base style.  Everything that each distillery does from how they geminate the Barley to the exact size and shape of the still remains a constant at each producer.  If they ever have to replace a still, it would be as exact a copy as could be made, right down to the metalurgy of the copper used for the still.  To do otherwise would change the Scotch forever.  Variations of the diameter, length and angle of the neck of the still are a major factor in the flavor difference between one Scotch and it's neighbor down the road. So my Scotch journey has really just begun.  I'll spend some more time on this subject in my next article, including why price isn't the full measure of a bottle.