Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
Effects of Distillery Region on Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
Proposal
According to experts, distillery region of whiskey has a huge impact on it’s taste similar to wine. Scotch Whisky is produced in 6 different regions in Scotland which are Highlands, Speyside, Lowlands, Campbeltown, Islay, and Islands.
In this project, the effect of distillery region on scores and price is examined. The effect of taste (sweetness, smoky etc.) on score and the effect of distillery region on taste (sweetness, smoky etc.) are also analyzed.
For these purposes, 787 single malt whiskey from 60 distilleries in 6 different regions in Scotland are studied.
Hypothesis 1
H0: There is no significant effect of distillery region on single malt Scotch whiskey’s score.
HA: Distillery region has significant effect on whisky score.
According to box-plot, there are some differences in score by region. To understand the significance of differences, I applied One-Way Anova test. According to One-Way Anova test:
- F-statistic = 7.386 and p < 0.05. So I reject the Null Hypothesis which was indicating scores are not affected by distillery region.
- The conclusion shows that at least one of the means is different. To understand which regions are different than each other, I applied the Tukey’s test.
- According to Tukey’s test, scores of whiskeys in Lowlands are significantly smaller than the ones in Islay / Islands / Speyside.
Hypothesis 2
H0: There is no significant effect of distillery region on Single Malt Scotch Whiskey Brand’s price.
HA: Region has significant effect on Scotch Whisky’s price.
According to box-plot, there are minor differences in price by regions. To understand the significance of differences, I applied One-Way Anova test. According to One-Way Anova test:
- F-statistic = 2.05 and p > 0.05. So I fail to reject the Null Hypothesis which was indicating prices are not affected by distillery region.
Taste Feature Counts
There are 12 taste features available to examine: Sweetness, Smoky, Medicinal, Tobacco, Honey, Spicy, Winey, Nutty, Malty, Fruity, Floral
At first, I checked the effect of number of taste features that whisky includes on score.
According to line-plot, there are some differences in score by taste feature count. To understand the significance of differences, I applied One-Way Anova test. According to One-Way Anova:
- F-statistic = 6.754 and p < 0.05. So there might be a significant difference in score for whiskeys having different taste feature counts.
Secondly, I checked the effect of distillery region on number of taste features that whisky includes.
According to line-plot, there are some differences in average number of taste features by distillery region. To understand the significance of differences, I applied One-Way Anova test. According to One-Way Anova test:
- F-statistic= 15.396 and p < 0.05. So there might be a significant difference in score for whiskeys having different taste feature counts.
- Since f-stat is higher (15.396) for this comparison than f-stat for feature count vs score (6.754) (previous comparison), I decided to dig into feature taste vs distillery region.
Feature Taste Rates vs. Distillery Region
There are 12 taste features, and I plotted their average rates by region in 2 different line charts (6/6).
In line-plots, there are differences in taste rates by regions. I applied One-Way Anova test for each of them. I selected 4 features to analyze detailed by considering two criteria: 1- I selected features having higher f-statistics. 2- I selected features that might be more popular taste. These 4 features are: Sweetness, Smoky, Fruity, Floral.
Region vs. Sweetness
Region vs. Sweetness histogram shows that distilleries in Islay and Islands regions provide less sweet single malt whiskeys while distilleries in Speyside region gives good whiskeys for sweetness seekers.
- According to Anova Test, F-statistic = 101.378 and p < 0.05 so there is a significant difference in sweetness among regions.
- Tukey’s test also shows that distilleries in Islay and Islands are less sweet while the ones in Speyside are more sweet.
- You can find distilleries providing more sweet whiskeys in Speyside: Miltonduff, Glenfarclas, Speyburn, Balmenach, Tomintoul, Cardhu, Glenlivet, Tamnavulin, Linkwood, Aberlour, Macallan, Glenrothes, Glenfiddich, Dufftown, Auchroisk, Inchgower
- You can find distilleries providing less sweet whiskeys in Islay, Islands: Talisker, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, Tobermory, Isle of Jura, Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Scapa, Highland Park, Bowmore, Ardmore
Region vs. Smoky
Region vs. Smoky histogram shows that distilleries in Lowlands region provide less smoky single malt whiskeys while distilleries in Islay and Islands regions give more smoky brands.
- According to Anova Test, F-statistic = 104.234 and p < 0.05 so there is a significant difference in being smoky among regions.
- Tukey’s test also shows us that distilleries in Lowlands less smoky while the ones in Islay and Islands are more smoky.
- You can find distilleries providing less smoky whiskey in Lowlands: Bladnoch, Auchentoshan, Glengoyne, Glenkinchie
- You can find distilleries providing more smoky whiskey in Islay, Islands: Talisker, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, Tobermory, Isle of Jura, Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Scapa, Highland Park, Bowmore, Ardmore
Region vs. Fruity & Floral
Distilleries in Lowlands and Speyside regions provide more fruity & floral single malt whiskeys while distilleries in Campbeltown and Islay regions offer less fruity / floral taste brands.
- According to Anova Test, F-statistic = 106.607 and p < 0.05 so there is a significant difference in being fruity among regions.
- According to Anova Test, F-statistic = 32.423 and p < 0.05 so there is a significant difference in being fruity among regions.
- You can find distilleries providing more fruity / floral whiskeys in Lowlands and Speyside: Auchentoshan, Bladnoch, Glenlivet, Tamnavulin, Longmorn, Glengoyne, Linkwood, Aberlour, Benriach, Strathisla (Chivas), Glenkinchie, Glenfarclas, Cardhu, Glenfiddich, Dufftown, Benromach, Aultmore, Benrinnes, Mortlach, Tamdhu
- You can find distilleries providing less fruity / floral whiskeys in Campbeltown and Islay: Springbank, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Ardmore, Bruichladdich
Balance in Features
In the previous parts, I didn’t mention Highlands region because whiskeys in this region includes almost all features in balanced, not too much / not too little. (You can check Taste vs. Distillery Region plots above) For balance seekers in taste, I suggest whiskeys produced in distilleries in Highlands region.
- You can find distilleries providing balanced-taste whiskeys in Highlands: Oban, Loch Lomond, Dalwhinnie, Balblair, Glenmorangie, Deanston, Dalmore, Tomatin, Speyside, Clynelish, Aberfeldy, Glenturret, Tullibardine, Edradour
References:
https://www.kaggle.com/neilcosgrove/scotch-whiskey-reviews-update-2020
