LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2025

SCOTCH & SHORTBREAD

Wine-Influenced Scotch + Cherry and White Chocolate Shortbread

Scotch 101 Scotch whisky must be distilled in Scotland and matured there for at least three years. Single-malt Scotch whisky is from a single distillery in Scotland. It is made of 100 per cent malted barley, distilled in pot stills and bottled at 40 per cent alcohol by volume or higher. Today, there are more than 150 Scotch whisky distilleries. Blended Scotch whisky combines one or more single-malt Scotch whis kies with Scottish grain whiskies, which can be made from other grains in addition to malted barley and are distilled in column stills. Blended Scotch can contain dozens of different components!

Blended malt Scotch whisky combines single-malts from more than one distillery together.

WHY IT WORKS

Numbers on a label refer to the age of the youngest Scotch whisky in the bottle. Some bottles have No Age Statement (sometimes called NAS). Whisky-producing regions of Scotland include the Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, Campbeltown and the island of Islay. The region will typically be stated on a bottle of single malt and sometimes on blended Scotch.

A signature technique of the whisky-blending world is to rest maturing spirit in casks that previously contained fortified and table wines. After soaking in wine’s fruity notes, these drams of Scotch complement a cherry-studded shortbread, creamy with chunks of white chocolate.

The Dalmore King Alexander III Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky LCBO 34969, $499.95 Notes gleaned from time in sherry, Madeira, Marsala, port and Cab ernet Sauvignon wine casks create an opulent sipping Scotch with hints of tropical fruit, plus almonds and warming spice.

Tullibardine The Murray Châteauneuf-du-Pape Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky LCBO 46063, 700 mL, $157.95 Maturing this vanilla and cara mel creamy malt whisky in elite red-wine barrels gives it ripe plum and berry, zesty spice and a dry, fruitcake-like finish.

Arran Port Cask Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky LCBO 328815, 700 mL, $99.15 Casks from sweet, forti fied Portuguese red wine give this whisky a profile of dried fruits and nuts, with a creaminess reminiscent of marzipan or fudge.

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———————— HOLIDAY 2025