This may seem like a stupid question but I've asked friends (who drink allot) the difference between scotch and whiskey, I can't get a straight answer from anyone, so it's pretty obvious they don't know, but they all claim the concoction I brew more resembles a scotch than a whiskey and I want to delve deeper into making a scotch. if anyone can it would be appreciated.

Scotch is actually a type of whisky. 'Whisky' is actually a general term that covers most distilled spirits made from grain (of course most are aged in/with oak and must meet a few other requirements to be called whisky). Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Sour Mash are all types of whisky.

Geography aside, these different whiskys differ in the specific recipes / grains used, as well as the water source. Aging can also be different. I assume that shamwowguy is referring to the differences in the styles (eg. Scotch whiskys are usually malt based, Canadian whiskys often use a lot of rye, and Bourbon whisky is higher in corn). These difference developed in great part due to the availability of different grains.