You are about to embark upon a comprehensive journey, designed to provide Pernod Ricard professionals with a rounded understanding of Scotch whisky. Structured over two levels, it has been designed to promote knowledge and appreciation of the category and Chivas Brothers’ vital place in the story of Scotch. Level 1 is now live. Level 2 will be coming soon.
What is the structure?
Level 1 has 4 modules, each broken down into several topics. Start from Module 1, Topic 1 and go from there. After successful completion and on passing the mini quiz, you will automatically unlock and progress to the next topic all the way until the final exam.
How does the scoring work?
Each End of Topic Quiz can be passed with a 75-100% pass rate (depending on the number of questions).
For the End of Module Quiz you must get 75% to pass.
For the End of Level Quiz (the bit that counts!) you will need 80% to pass and eventually gain your accreditation. Don’t forget to download your “graduation pack” at the end.
What do I get?
Chivas Campus was built in collaboration with Edinburgh Whisky Academy (EWA), the only Scotch whisky education provider accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. This means that you will become a “Chivas Campus Expert”, recognised by the industry leading body. In your graduation pack, you will receive a certificate as well as a badge you can attach to either your email signature, CV or profile photo. We would also encourage you to share your achievement on LinkedIn or Instagram!
Any tips?
Take your time. It is easy to pick up where you left off so don’t feel obliged to do the course in one sitting. While it might be tempting to skip to the quizzes in order to pass, you will only truly gain the depth of knowledge and understanding needed by reading the slides and watching the animations and videos so please do engage with the content and enjoy the journey!
The Whisky Glossary
Here's a handy list of whisky terms covered in Level 1.
ABV
Short for 'Alcohol by Volume' and refers to the alcoholic strength of the liquid.
Age Statement
The declared age on a whisky's label.
American oak
Oak from America.
American Standard Barrel
A cask of approximately 190-200 litres capacity.
Barrel
A term that can be used generically, in the same way as 'cask', but is more accurately used to describe an American Standard Barrel.
Blended
This is a little more complicated. The verb 'to blend' means to mix or combine two or more things. However, in the context of Scotch whisky's legal categories, 'Blended' specifically means that the whisky is either:
A mixture of whiskies of two different categories, whether made at one or more distilleries. (Blended Scotch.)
OR
A mixture of whiskies of the same category but made at different distilleries. (e.g. Blended Malt, Blended Grain.)
Blended Grain
A blend of two or more single grain whiskies.
Blended Malt
A blend of two or more single malt whiskies.
Blended Scotch
A blend of one or more single malt whiskies with one or more single grain whiskies.
Body
The term used to describe a whisky's weight in the mouth.
Butt
A cask of approximately 475-500 litres. Usually it has previously contained the Spanish fortified wine sherry.
Cask
A generic term for the wooden vessels used to mature whiskies.
Campbeltown
A Scotch whisky region. The town of Campbeltown and the surrounding South Kintyre ward of Argyll.
Caramel Colouring
Aka Spirit Caramel. A food-safe additive used to tint the colour of a wide variety of baked goods, juice products and cocoa extenders.
Column Stills
These are tower-like stills fitted with many internal perforated plates. They can be run continuously (only being stopped for maintenance or because the distiller chooses to) so are sometimes called 'continuous stills'.
Dram
A generic term for a measure of whisky. In Scotland, most people would say a 'double' measure, or 50ml, is a healthy dram.
Endogenous
This means 'derived internally' or 'proceeding from within'. Usually used in reference to the source of the enzymes that allow a grain to be processed into whisky.
European oak
Oak from Europe.
Finish
The term used for the lingering flavour of a whisky.
Hybrid Stills
These are stills that have the characteristics of both pots and columns. For instance, they may have the base of a pot still and the neck of a column still.
Highland
A Scotch whisky region. The area above the 'dividing line' separating the Lowland and Highland regions, comprising all of the mainland north of the central belt and all islands not including the isle of Islay.
Hogshead
A cask of approximately 225-250 litres.
Islay
A Scotch whisky region. The isle of Islay is the southernmost island in the Inner Hebrides.
Legs
The term used to describe the rivulets that form down the side of a glass after a whisky has been swirled. Can give an indication of its ABV and/or viscosity.
Lowland
A Scotch whisky region. The area below the 'dividing line' separating the Lowland and Highland regions, comprising Scotland's 'central belt' and below, but not including the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula around the town of Campbeltown in Argyll.
Malted Barley
Barley that has been through the malting process. This means the barley has been encouraged to germinate (sprout) and then quickly dried before it depletes its store of carbohydrates.
Maturation
Or, to the full term, cask maturation – is the catch-all term used to describe a seemingly magical transformation that takes place when beer, wine or distilled spirits are filled into a wooden vessel and then left alone for a while. This is often also referred to as 'ageing'.
Mash
A kind of wet porridge made by mixing milled cereal grains during the mashing stage of whisky making.
Mouthfeel
The overall feeling of whisky in the mouth.
Neat
If you order your whisky 'neat', it will come on its own with nothing added.
No Age Statement / NAS
A whisky without a disclosed age.
Nip
Another generic term that doesn't denote a specific volume of whisky, but it means a taste on the smaller side. Anything from 10ml-25ml might be considered a 'nip'.
Nose / Nosing
The term used for a whisky's smell / the act of smelling a whisky.
Non Chill-Filtered
Means that a whisky hasn't undergone 'chill-filtration', a process that sees the whisky cooled to between -10 and 4°C and passed through a fine filter which removes those fatty acids, proteins and long-chain esters.
Palate / Taste
The term used for a whisky's taste / the act of tasting a whisky.
Peat
A type of partially and anaerobically (without oxygen) decomposed plant matter that's found in waterlogged natural landscapes called bogs. It can be dried and burned as fuel.
Pot Stills
Traditionally made from copper, these are 'kettles' characterised by a large, pot-shaped base.
Pour: Another generic term, mostly used in the USA to describe a measure of whisky.
Quercus Alba
American white oak, generally sourced from around the Ozark and Appalachian mountains in the United States.
Quercus Petraea
A species of oak also known as 'Irish' or 'sessile' oak, it is slightly more narrow in its range than Q.Robur but nevertheless can be found in most of Europe, as far south as Northern Spain and as far north as Norway, and into the Middle East.
Quercus Robur
A species of oak also known as 'English' or 'pedunculate' oak, it is the wider-ranging of the European varieties and can be found as far north as Norway and as far south as central Portugal, but also well into the Middle East and the colder climes of north-western Asia.
Sherry
Fortified wine from the area in the southwestern Spanish province of Andalusia, specifically from the area around the town Jerez de la Frontera.
Shot
Again, this doesn't denote a specific volume, but probably correlates to whatever a single measure is in the country you happen to be in. In the UK, this would be 25ml, but in the USA it might be 1 fluid ounce (roughly 30ml). Often, the word shot is used less in reference to the volume and more to the way it's consumed. Knocking a measure of spirits back in one is 'taking a shot'. We don't recommend drinking Scotch whisky this way.
Single
This one is easy! When the word 'single' appears in a Scotch whisky category name, it means all the whisky in the bottle was produced at one 'single' distillery.
Single Grain
This is a catch-all term for all other whisky made entirely at one 'single' distillery that does not fit the definition of single malt. Usually, this means whisky made on one site from a mash of malted barley and other malted or unmalted grains, such as wheat, corn or rye, that has been distilled on column stills. However, a mash of 100% malted barley distilled on column stills is also single grain, and so is a mash of malted barley plus other grains, even if distilled in pot stills.
Single Malt
Entirely the product of only one distillery, made from a mash of 100% malted barley and distilled in copper pot stills.
Speyside
A Scotch whisky region. The area of north-eastern Scotland close to and associated with the River Spey and its tributaries. Speyside is both a distinct whisky region but also geographically located within the Highland region. This means whiskies made here may be labelled either Speyside or Highland.
Straight
This can mean the same as 'neat', but be careful: 'straight up' does not mean the same thing. Instead, this means chilled with ice and then strained and served in a cocktail glass — it's usually a term reserved for how you'd like your cocktail served. Finally, 'straight' is also a regulated term used to describe certain categories of American whiskey. This kind of 'straight' has nothing to do with how a whisky is served, but instead indicates how it's been matured. A bourbon described as 'straight' has been matured for a minimum of 2 years in a new charred oak cask.
Yeast
A microorganism vital for making alcohol. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used to convert carbohydrates into alcohol, carbon dioxide, and a whole host of aromatic congeners.
Yay! You made it!
Congratulations on completing Level 1 of Chivas Campus, you can now download your graduation pack from the dashboard.
Why not share your achievement on LinkedIn or Instagram?
And stay tuned to upgrade your whisky knowledge even further with Chivas Campus Level 2, launching very soon!