A blended whisky (or whiskey) is the product of blending different types of whiskies and often also neutral and near-neutral spirits, coloring, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher quality straight or single malt whiskies with higher-alcohol-content spirits or neutral grain spirits (and water).
In the United States, under federal regulations spirits with alcohol distillation concentrations above 80% alcohol by volume (ABV) cannot be referred to as "straight" whisky, as the flavor from the original fermented grain mash is substantially diminished at higher distillation purities. Generally, any distilled spirit of 85% ABV or higher (without additives) is considered to be essentially neutral alcohol.[1] Scottish and Irish blended whiskies often contain light spirits that are very neutral in flavoring – as the governing regulations in those countries allow whisky distillation processes to reach up to 94.8% ABV concentration, which is very near the achievable limits of ordinary distillation technology. Canadian whisky regulations do not specify any distillation limit, although in practice this differs little from the Scottish and Irish limit of 94.8%, because the purity of neutral grain spirit has a practical limit of approximately that value (because a mixture of ethanol and water becomes an azeotrope at 95.6% ABV).
Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States are common countries of origin for blends. Canadian whisky may contain both caramel and flavorings, as well as distilled spirits. Scotch and Irish regulations also allow the addition of caramel, regardless of whether the product is labelled as blended or not.
A mix of single malts only, without other types of whisky such as made from grains other than malted barley, may be called a "blended malt" (formerly known as a vatted malt). Under current Scotch whisky regulations, the "vatted malt" term is now prohibited for labels, in favor of the term "blended malt".
In Scotland, when a blended whisky includes an age statement, each individual spirit in the mix must be at least as old as the age listed. However, in the United States, the age statement only refers to the minimum age of the straight whiskey used within the blend (which must comprise at least 20% of the content). Most blended whiskeys do not list an age, although the regulations governing its production in some countries specify a minimum aging requirement. Canadian, Scottish, and Irish whiskey must all be aged at least three years. American regulations do not have a minimum aging time requirement for blended whiskey, although a minimum of two years is established for "straight" American whiskey, and blended American whiskey must contain at least 20% straight whisky.
Two widely known examples of blended whisky are Johnnie Walker and Seagram's Seven Crown, but there are many others such as Jameson, Chivas Regal, Old St Andrews, Isle of Skye, and Black & White.
Neutral spirits, near-neutral spirits and other 'fillers' are usually much cheaper to produce than straight or single malt whisky, so blends containing them are usually much cheaper to buy. Most cocktails and mixed drinks that call for it use blended whisky. This is primarily for cost reasons, and secondarily because the complex flavours of higher quality whiskies would be overshadowed by the mixer(s). Whisky purists generally consider blended whisky to be an inferior drink to the straight and single malt varieties.
Some blended whiskies, such as Old Thompson and various Canadian whiskies, are composed mostly of grain neutral spirit, with only a relatively minor part by volume being straight whisky.