In common with other whisky connoisseurs I have been guilty of turning my nose up at blended whiskies. The very thought of a master blender taking my favorite single malt and diluting it with anything other than a tea spoon of water, had brought tears to my eyes and a tone of distain to my voice. The idea that the blender opens the company safe, when stocks are low and simply follows the recipe of mixing two parts malt whisky A with three parts grain whisky B is actually so far from the truth, that blended malts deserve further respect and investigation.

Let's start from the beginning with single malts. A single malt is defined as a whisky coming from just one distillery, that doesn't mean to say that the whisky just comes straight out of the barrel and into the bottle (that's called a single cask or single barrel bottling - and let's face it, a few of these are truly awful, and if you do like the contents, finding the same again is neigh on impossible!). It is fair to say that most single malts are also actually blended whisky in some form or another. They are often a mix of whisky that has been stored in former bourbon, port or sherry barrels. The barrels are even, in the case of Auchentoshan, used up to four times; with each maturation the flavour taken up by the spirit is less and less. Barley harvests vary thanks to the unpredictable nature of the climate and the availability of used barrels can go up and down like a fiddler's elbow. So you get the picture? Producing a steady, uniform output from a distillery requires unique blending knowledge to produce a single malt.

After taking into account the varying production from just one distillery, imagine taking this idea onto a wider level when producing a blended scotch from distilleries all over the land? Distilleries can go bankrupt, have production difficulties and the finished product does not come out of a conveyor belt on a set date in your diary to coincide with the next batch of blended scotch that needs to be bottled. There are no secret recipes locked away in a safe and even if they were, the above factors would render them absolutely useless from year to year. The master blender comes into their own for blended scotches by making use of what they have and producing a uniform product that is unmistakably both unique and recognizable.

Despite what some so-called whisky lovers would like to think, some blended whiskies have been holding their head high to single malts for decades. Johnny Walker Black Label springs to mind as one of the most famous. However the list is endless and as detailed as it is long. What about taking a journey around Islay by having a dram of Black Bottle, which includes a hint of the infamous Port Ellen single malt? According to some, Taketsuru is the world's best blended whisky - this Japanese joy costs about three times more than a decent single malt. Even Dewar's White Label, that is relatively unknown in Europe, sells 1.36 million cases in The United States and at the very least is responsible for introducing millions of consumers to whisky and then single malts.

The most surprising thing about delving deep inside the inner workings and economic life of classic single malt distilleries is just how much of your favourite single malt goes into blended scotch. I remember being horrified to discover that over 50% of the production of one of my favourite single malts ends up as a blended scotch. Of course my initial reaction was to ask for that 50% to be drunk myself as a single malt; however it is not until you realise the financial importance of blended whiskies to the single malt distilleries, both in quantity and stability of income, that you can take a step back and start to appreciate them. This financial reliance is born out by The Scotch Whisky Associations own 2008 report. The total 2008 production of single malt whisky is reported to be 225 million liters and worldwide sales of blended scotch for the same year as 327 million liters, if according to Loch Lomond Distillery, grain whisky makes on average 80% of blended scotch, with a little computation you can deduce that around 30% of all single malt whisky ends up as blended whisky. Forget your idea of a quaint hillside distillery lovingly bottling every drop for single malt connoisseurs, these guys have to pay the bills just like the rest of us!

Real whisky lovers should be able to appreciate blended scotch, without the high and mighty attitude. What about that smack of velvet Rolls-Royce smoothness from Macallan in Famous Grouse or that slightly fishy hit you get from Talisker in White Horse? Never thought about that? Well may be its time to start appreciating blended whiskies for what they are - a result of tireless devotion from experts and the lifeline for single malt distilleries.