Are feeling you lost? Well, not to worry; you can use this sitemap to find your way around the Malt Madness site.
And you can probably use some help, if you want to explore every nook and cranny of a site that has been
growing steadily since 1995. The Malt Madness site now has hundreds of pages dealing with a wide variety
of whisky related topics. This sitemap is supposed to provide you with some insight in the website structure.

I've tried to add a sense of logic to this site by dividing it into five main sections. Apart from those sections
(more about these five a little later) there's a 'general' section with a few pages that didn't fit anywhere else.
Most of these pages were added to help you find your way around the site and the rest of the world wide web.
Apart from this sitemap and a page with press information, the general section contains the following pages;

The hyperlinks in the yellow box at the left will take you to the part of this sitemap
that deals with that section. Alternatively, the links below lead directly to a section;
to the Beginner's Guide (for those who have little experience with malt whisky, to
the Distillery Data section with more than a hundred profiles for whisky distilleries,
the mAlmanac (sort of a shopping guide) and my Liquid Log with my tasting notes.

• an introduction to the Malt Madness website and its history,
• a selection of Frequently Asked Questions (about this website),
• a page with some Tweets & Stuff for public entertainment,
• a couple of Liquid Links to other worthwhile whisky websites,
• a contact page with testimonials from 'satisfied customers'.

I imagine that browsing around MM should provide a relatively smooth surfing experience - at
least for those of you that understand the basic navigation logic of Malt Madness and the two
other web sites in our small web ring. Via the three big horizontal tabs at the top of each page
you can jump between Malt Madness, Malt Maniacs and WhiskyFun (hosted by Serge Valentin).
Likewise, the row of tabs directly below that (on the Malt Madness site) allows you to switch
between the different sections of the web site (Beginner's Guide, Distillery Data, etc.).

I will go into more details of each of the five site sections on this page. Just scroll down and read the entire page if
you want to know more about the history and structure of Malt Madness. If you're primarily interested in one specific
site section, you can select one of the links at the right.
 
As you'll find out when you browse through these pages, the reconstruction of Malt Madness isn't finished just yet.
If you follow me on Twitter you'll stay updated about the developments in the whisky world and around this website.

Apart from following the navigation structure of this website,
you could also use the Google search box at the top of this page
(you'll find it on most other pages on this site as well) to look for
specific information about Scotch malt whisky. Search results for
both the Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs web sites will be shown.
 
If that doesn't provide the answers you seek, you might consider
posting your question on the Malt Maniacs & Friends group on
Facebook. At the beginning of 2010, the group already had well
over two thousand members, so you should be able to find some
help and/or directions amongst fellow malt whisky lovers...

The massive disclaimer on the front
page and the picture at the right are the
only alcohol abuse warnings on this web
site. Yes, alcohol is very bad for you - but
so are many other things, like smoking
tobacco. I think it's an adult's own choice.
As far as children are concerned: the kids
that are stupid enough to abuse alcohol
or tobacco in their formative years will
probably be useless later in life as well...

If you stumbled onto MM by accident, you may not have been properly introduced to 'the water of life'.
Or maybe you have been introduced, so you want to learn more about the wonderful world of whisky.
Anyway, this 'Beginner's Guide' to single malt whisky would be a good place to start. The guide is
aimed mainly at visitors of the MM website who have little or no previous experience with single malt
Scotch whisky. Apart from loads of general background information about the history, distillation and
maturation of single malt Scotch whisky the Beginner's Guide offers trivia, hints, tips and tricks.
The information in the Beginner's Guide to single malt whisky is divided in these 10 chapters;

- Chapter 1: Fundamentals - So, what is single malt Scotch whisky exactly and why is it special?
- Chapter 2: Vocabulary - An entire chapter dedicated to terminology and pronunciation and stuff.
- Chapter 3: Geography - The various malt whisky regions of Scotland, from Lowlands to Highlands.
- Chapter 4: Distillation - The production process begins with malted barley and ends with 'spirit'.
- Chapter 5: Maturation - All the fresh spirit needs to evolve into real whisky is time - lots of it.
- Chapter 6: Bottling - At some point the whisky is ready for bottling, so it can actually be distributed.
- Chapter 7: Shopping - Enough dry theory now, let's get down to business: how to spend your hard earned cash wisely.
- Chapter 8: Enjoyment - About glassware, adding water to your dram, temperature and all those other pesky little details.
- Chapter 9: Practice - And now, finally, it's time to actually pour yourself a dram or two of whisky - preferably single malt.
- Chapter 10: Conclusion - Some final words of whisky wisdom, as well as an e-book review that inspired me to start work on...
 
... (drumroll) ...
 
... the Advanced Beginner's Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky - a downloadable PDF with all the information you'll need to evolve from
a (relative) 'beginner' in the field of single malts to a fully fledged 'connoisseur'.  However, that advanced guide isn't available just yet...
 

The Distillery Data section of Malt Madness provides 'distillery profiles' on well over a
hundred active and silent distilleries in Scotland. Each profile provides some statistics
(the region, the neighbours, the year that a distillery was founded, the water source, the
number of stills, the production capacity, etc.), a few paragraphs about the history of the
distillery in question and tasting notes on at least half a dozen expressions - often more.
Apart from the profiles themselves, the DD section also provides a few additional pages,
like an overview of malt whisky brands (you won't find the Port Charlotte or Stronachie
distillery anywhere for example) and pages for the different whisky regions of Scotland.
You can use these 'regional' pages or the interactive map of Scotland to find all distilleries
in a particular region, which could lead you to a few other malt whiskies you might like.
However, the 'terroir' theory has become much less relevant in recent years, so if you're
looking for new discoveries it might be wiser to check another section; the mAlmanac ...

Aberfeldy - Aberlour - Ailsa Bay - Allt A' Bhainne - Ardbeg - Ardmore - Arran - Auchentoshan - Auchroisk - Aultmore
Balblair - Balmenach - Balvenie - Banff - Ben Nevis - Benriach - Benrinnes - Benromach - Ben Wyvis - Bladnoch - Blair Athol
Bowmore - Brackla - Braeval - Brora - Bruichladdich - Bunnahabhain - Caol Ila - Caperdonich - Cardhu - Clynelish - Coleburn
Convalmore - Cragganmore - Craigellachie - Daftmill - Dailuaine - Dallas Dhu - Dalmore - Dalwhinnie - Deanston - Dufftown
Edradour - Fettercairn - Glen Albyn - Glenallachie - Glenburgie - Glencadam - Glencraig - Glen Deveron - Glendronach - Glendullan
Glen Elgin - Glenfarclas - Glenfiddich - Glen Flagler - Glen Garioch - Glenglassaugh - Glengoyne - Glen Grant - Glengyle - Glen Keith
Glenkinchie - Glenlivet - Glenlochy - Glenlossie - Glen Mhor - Glenmorangie - Glen Moray - Glen Ord - Glenrothes - Glen Scotia
Glen Spey - Glentauchers - Glenturret - Glenugie - Glenury Royal - Highland Park - Hillside - Imperial - Inchgower - Inverleven
Isle of Jura - Kilchoman - Killyloch - Kinclaith - Kininvie - Knockando - Knockdhu - Ladyburn - Lagavulin - Laphroaig - Ledaig
Linkwood - Linlithgow - Littlemill - Loch Ewe - Loch Lomond - Lochnagar - Lochside - Longmorn - Macallan - MacDuff
Mannochmore - Millburn - Miltonduff - Mortlach - Mosstowie - North Port / Brechin - Oban - Old Pulteney - Pittyvaich - Port Ellen
Pulteney - Rosebank - Royal Brackla - Royal Lochnagar - Saint Magdalene - Scapa - Speyburn - Speyside - Springbank
Strathisla - Strathmill - Talisker - Tamdhu - Tamnavulin - Teaninich - Tobermory - Tomatin - Tomintoul - Tormore - Tullibardine

These were all active malt whisky distilleries in Scotland, as well as those that were closed since +/- 1975.
But Scotland isn't the only place where they know how to make good whisky these days... With the growing quality of whiskies from Ireland and Japan (not to mention faraway countries like India, Tasmania and Taiwan), it's about time I paid some more attention to distilleries in those countries. I'll try to do that in the Deviant Drams section.
However, that 'Deviant Drams' section is still under construction at the moment...
 
If you prefer to focus your alcoholic attention on Scotland, the 'Distillery Data' section has a few more pages about related topics as well; like silent distilleries, (distilleries that are demolished or 'mothballed') new distillery projects (new distilleries in various stages of planning, construction or early production), an overview of malt whisky brands and an overview of the main independent bottlers. Last but certainly not least: my brother Franc and I managed to construct a massive interactive whisky map of Scotland which shows the locations of all distilleries in Scotland.

The name mAlmanac is short for 'malt almanac' - a pocket-sized (well, virtually...) guide to Scotch malt whisky.
The malt mAlmanac started out as a fairly simplified shopping guide with a selection of some recommendable,
exciting and especially affordable whiskies, but over time a few other pages were added to the mix as well.
After the massive crash of the old Malt Madness site in 2006, I've managed to reconstruct some of these
ancient pages that seemed lost (like my Stock List and Track Record) and added them to this mAlmanac.
 
However, please keep in mind that many these lists merely reflect my own humble opinion about single malts.
Those humble opinions are influenced by my purely personal tastes - so it's possible that you don't agree.
In that case, I'd like to suggest that you visit Malt Maniacs or Whiskyfun to see some other perspectives.

01) The Hot List - the most interesting bottlings of single malt whisky that have been released (relatively) recently.
02) The Hit List - my all-time favourite single malt whiskies which I wouldn't be afraid to recommend to anybody.
03) The Shit List - some of my least favourite malt whiskies and whiskeys which I would NOT recommend to anyone.
04) The Bang-For-Your-Buck List - a modest selection of malt whiskies that offer the best value for money I think.
05) The Reading List - a overview of the 10 most recommendable whisky books that I have read so far.
06) The Whisky Industry List - a schematic overview of all Scotch malt whisky distilleries and their owners.
07) The Stock List - used to show the contents of my liquor cabinet around circa 2005, but has a broader scope now.
08) Little Black Book - my tasting notes (A-Z) on the first 500 Scotch single malt whiskies that I've seriously sampled.
09) Track Record (A-I) - my scores on +/- 1000 malt whiskies that I tried before 2007 - from Aberfeldy to Imperial.
10) Track Record (H-T) - scores on +/- 1000 malt whiskies I tried before 2007 - from Highland Park to Tullibardine.

Finally, a site section that IS finished - sort of... 
Everything is still rough around the edges, but at least the Liquid Log is surfable
again on the Malt Madness server. So, let me tell you a little more about my log...
 
Since 1997 I've kept a Liquid Log - which evolved into a Liquid Blog in 2005.
My liquid log is a chronological record of my quest to find the perfect single malt
whisky. Both the Log, the Blog and the Scrapbook that I added in 2007 contain
tasting notes and lighthearted observations about single malts & life in general.
Navigating the (b)log should be easy as pie; you can easily access all the older
log entries through the main Liquid Log page (covering the years 1997, 1998,
1999, 2000 and 2001) and the Archive that covers 2002, 2003 and 2004.
 
In 2005 my log mutated into a Blog - basically my log with more pictures.
The 'big crunch' at the end of 2006 forced me to change the format yet again
into my Scrapbook - all liquid log entries from a single season grouped together.
Via the arrows above each page you can move back & forth in time, as it were...
If you're not interested in the past, you can jump directly to the fresh entries.

The liquid (b)log and scrapbook contain all my scores and tasting notes.
However, they are scattered throughout hundreds of different (b)log entries.
That's why I included my Little Black Book with tasting notes on 500 malts in my Liquid Log.
However, by the time I had reached the 500 malts mark, both my 'physical' black book and its virtual counterpart of this site were full.
 
I replaced my actual little black book with a fresh one, but decided to upgrade the on-line version to the Track Record - an alphabetical overview of my scores for the more than 2,000 single malt Scotch whiskies that I've sampled and scored between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2007. If you're looking for a score or tasting notes on a specific single malt, that would probably be the best place to check. Clicking on the name of a whisky will take you directly to the liquid log entry that contains my tasting notes and further comments.
Easy as pie, eh? Latest Development: my Liquid Log continues through an external service: the Malt Madness Blog on Google.

Please note that my Little Black Book and Track Record only contain notes for single malt Scotch whiskies.
I've added a seperate Deviant Drams section to Malt Madness, dealing with some other alcoholic beverages
like Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, bourbon whiskey, rye whiskey, cognac, armagnac, calvados, wodka, gin,
grappa, tequila, rum, beer, wine, port and sherry, as well as (single) grain whiskies, vatted malts and blends.
It's still under reconstruction but will offer an overview of my notes and scores for all drinks that are not:
 
1) Scotch - i.e. produced in Scotland and matured there for at least three years,
2) single - i.e. not blended with the product from another distillery,
3) malt - i.e. distilled exclusively from malted barley (not corn, rye, etc.),
4) whisky - i.e. distilled grain spirit (from pot stills and column stills).

In my humble opinion, the enjoyment of single malt whisky is only enhanced further by an occasional 'detour'.
For one thing, comparing the occasional blend or bourbon 'head-to-head' with a single malt reminds one why malts are special.
But enough about that - as I said the new Deviant Drams section is still under reconstruction. The good news is that another section of Malt Madness has now evolved into a brand new separate website, aimed at the real anoraks amongst us.
I mean, of course....

I started the 'Malt Madness' site in 1995 and gradually more and more people started sending me reports about their alcoholic adventures. After a while I started to publish some of the more eloquent contributions on the site. More and more people discovered the site and by the end of 2001 we had evolved into an interactive collective of 12 'certified malt maniacs' . That was when we decided to combine our to collective contributions into a seperate E-zine; Malt Maniacs. When we published our umpteenth issue in January 2005 we had grown to a respectable 24 maniacs, reporting from all over the world. By 2010 our numbers had grown to more than 30 - and we had launched the first beta version of our own database; the Malt Maniacs Monitor. I suggest you click onwards if you want to find out more about that.
 
Last but certainly not least is the WhiskyFun website from fellow 'malt maniac' Serge Valentin from France.
Serge's whisky website is updated with fresh tasting notes (almost) every day and offers loads of other great stuff...

Follow me on Twitter if you want to know when new stuff will be added to Malt Madness.