WHISKY

Whisky is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from

fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different
varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat,
and corn. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, made
generally of charred white oak.
Whisky -like products are produced in most grain-growing areas.
They differ in base product, alcoholic content, and quality.
Malt whisky is made primarily from malted barley.
Grain whisky is made from any type of grains.
TYPES OF WHISKY
Single malt whisky is whisky from a single distillery made from a
mash that uses only one particular malted grain. Unless the whisky
is described as "single-cask", though, it will contain whisky from
many casks, and different years, so the blender can achieve a taste
recognizable as typical of the distillery. In most cases, the name of
a single malt will be that of the distillery.
Blended malt whisky is a mixture of single malt whiskies from
different distilleries. If a whisky is labelled "pure malt" or just
"malt" it is almost certain to be a blended malt whisky. This was
formerly called a "vatted malt" whisky.
Blended whiskies are typically made from a mixture of malt and
grain whiskies often along with neutral spirits, caramel, and
flavouring. A whisky simply described as a Scotch, Irish, or
Canadian whisky is most likely to be a blend. A blend typically

contains whisky from many distilleries so that the blender can

produce a flavour consistent with the brand, and the brand name
(e.g., Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark) will usually not therefore contain
the name of a distillery.

Whisky manufacture process

Malt Whisky is made from three ingredients; barley, water and
yeast. The following section describes the basic traditional process
of making whisky.
Malting
The malting process begins as the barley is soaked in water for
two-three days in steep tanks. The soaking increases the moisture
content of the grains which in turn triggers the germination
process.
The barley is then moved to a malting facility (e.g. a malting floor
or a drum malting) where the germination continues. The purpose
of the malting is to convert the starch in the grains into fermentable
sugars which will feed the yeast during the fermentation stage.
Heat is produced during the germination so it is important to turn
the barley continuously to keep the temperature even. If the
temperature rises above 22C the grains will die and the process of
converting the starch into sugar will be halted. In a traditional
malting floor the barley is turned by hand with wooden shovels
called shiels.
After the germination is completed it is necessary to prevent the
grain from developing further, thereby using up its food supply
(the fermentable sugars). This is accomplished in a kiln where the

malt is dried to remove enough moisture from each grain so that

further growth is halted. A kiln is a two-storey building where the
upper floor is perforated to allow hot air to pass through from
below.
The lower floor contains a furnace where bricks of peat are burned
to generate heat and smoke. The heat and smoke rise through the
perforations and dry the malt. It is during this stage that the malt
gains its characteristic peat-reek.
The kiln with its pagoda roof is the most apparent characteristic of
a traditional whisky distillery. The roofs are designed to draw the
smoke upwards quickly enough so that the malt is not damaged by
the heat (the temperature of the malt must be kept under 70C).
Today the majority of distilleries buy all or most of their malt from
centralised commercial maltings such as Port Ellen and Montrose.
For example, Glenfiddich buy all their malt whereas Laphroaig
buy 30 percent of their barley themselves. Balvenie is an example
of a distillery which still do all their malting themselves.

Mashing
The malt is ground to grist in a mill and is then fed into mash tuns
together with water that holds a temperature of about 60C.
The water is changed three or four times during the eight-hour
mashing period and the temperature is increased each time. The
mashing creates a sugar solution that is called the wort which is
then separated from the spent grains.
The mass of used grains is called the draff and is not used further
in the production process but is commonly used for cattle feed.

Fermentation
The finished wort is quite warm and must be cooled before it can
be mixed with the yeast.
This is done in the washbacks. These containers are traditionally
made from larch or pinewood but today stainless steel washbacks
are also common.
The size of a washback varies from 6 000 to 45 000 litres. Each
washback is never filled to the top since the wort froths
significantly during the fermentation, a reaction caused by the
release of carbon dioxide.
After two to three days the yeast is finally killed by the alcohol it
has produced and the fermentation process is finished. The
resulting liquid has an alcohol content of 5-8 percent and is called
the wash.

Distilling
The wash goes to Pot Still for distillation
The copper pot stills in which the wash is distilled have become
the ultimate symbol of whisky distilleries.
The stills are made from copper since it is a material that is easy to
work with, it does not rust and it is an efficient heat conductor.
In general malt whisky is distilled twice although some distilleries
practice triple distillation, for example Irish distilleries and a few
Scottish distilleries.

The first distillation is a distillate of low alcoholic strength, which

is known as low wines. The resulting low wines spirit has an
alcohol content of 20-26 percent.
The stillman has the critical task to collect only the desired spirits
from the second distillation (the spirit run).
At his assistance is the spirit safe which was developed in the
1820s to allow the government to control the amount of whisky
produced at each distillery. The spirit safe is fitted with
hydrometers which the stillman uses to determine when the alcohol
that exits the still is the correct one for making whisky.
Before the desired spirit starts to come through however, the
stillman has to avoid the first light alcohols that are called the
foreshots. These are allowed to flow into a separate tank and will
later be re-distilled together with the next batch of low wines. The
desired spirit is called the middle cut or the heart of the run and
starts to come through as the alcohol content reaches about 75
percent.
The heart of the run is the only part of the distillate that will
become whisky. The stillman now diverts the spirit into a separate
container. This is called cutting on spirit.

Filling and maturation

After the distillation the spirit is cut to the strength it will have
when it is filled into the casks. Most distilleries cut their spirit to
63.5 percent as it is commonly believed that whisky matures best
at this specific alcohol content.

 All casks used to store whisky are made from oak. Most distilleries
use oak casks that have contained sherry or bourbon (Macallan is
the only distillery to exclusively use sherry casks). Whisky
receives its natural amber colour from interacting with the wood,
although it has become increasingly common to artificially add
colour by using the E150 additive.
The spirit is not legally considered to be whisky until it has been
stored in wood for at least three years. Some of the whisky
evaporates through the wood during storage. About 1-2 percent of
the whisky evaporates each year in a natural process which is
called the angels share.
Since the alcohol content must be at least 40 percent in order for
whisky to be called whisky,
Yet another reason for the limited maturation period is that whisky
constantly picks up tannin from the wood, and too much tannin
ruins the whisky. The greater part of all single malt whisky is
stored between 8 and 12 years.

Bottling
Before the whisky is bottled it is usually filled into large tanks to
be cut (mixed) with de-mineralised water to 40, 43 or 46 percent.
Some bottling are filled straight from the cask however, and are
thus called cask strength or raw cask.
This whisky is best enjoyed with some water although most
whisky will in fact benefit from a slight measure of water since it
enhances both the flavour and the aroma of the whisky. After the
whisky is cut it is common to chill-filter it. This is done in order to
remove slight impurities from the whisky which otherwise would
cause a clouding effect at low temperatures.
Not all distilleries practice chill-filtering since they believe that it
removes some of the character of the stored whisky. Most

distilleries do not have their own bottling facilities and buy the
service instead from specialised bottling plants.
There are a few, however, such as Springbank, Glenfiddich and
Bruichladdich who still do their own bottling on site these also
use the same spring water that is used during the production
process when they make the final cut of the whisky.

American whiskey
American whiskey is distilled from a fermented mash of cereal
grain
Some types of whiskey listed in the United States federal
regulations are:
Bourbon whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at
least 51% corn (maize).
Corn whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least
80% corn.
Malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least
51% malted barley
Rye whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least
51% rye.
Rye malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at
least 51% malted rye.
Wheat whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least
51% wheat.

Scotch Whisky
Scotch Whisky Regulations require anything bearing the label
"Scotch" to be distilled in Scotland and matured for a minimum of
three years in oak casks, among other, more specific criteria. An
age statement on the bottle, in the form of a number, must reflect
the age of the youngest Scotch whisky used to produce that
product.

 A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed age

whisky. Scotch whisky without an age statement may, by law, be as
young as three years old. Scotch whiskies use peat smoke to treat
their malt, giving Scotch its distinctive smoky flavour. Scotch malt
whiskies are divided into five main regions:
Highland-The majority of scotch whisky distilleries are classed as
highland
Ex:Highland park,
Lowland-These are lightest in style and make excellent blending
bases
Ex:Rosebank,Bladnoch
Islay-This distilleries off the west coast produce some of the most
fully flavoured and peaty malts often with hints of iodine and tar
Ex:Laphroaig.Bowmore
Speyside :This area produces some of the finest malts in Scotland
Ex:Glenfiddich,Glenlivet,
Cambeltown.:Home to the first distilleries in scotland and produce
smoky whiskies
Ex:Spring bank, Glen Scotia
Island : This include all other islands scattered around the coast of
scotland including Mull,Skye,and Orkneys.Island malts sometimes
take on a salty or sea weedy edge due to the proximity to the sea
Ex:Talisker ,Ledaig

Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is straight bourbon whiskey produced in the
state of Tennessee.This definition is legally established under the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and at least one
other international trade agreement that require that Tennessee
whiskey be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey authorized to be
produced only in the State of Tennessee.

IRISH WHISKY
Irish whisky is whisky made in Ireland.
Key regulations defining Irish whiskey and its production are
established by the Irish Whiskey Act of 1980,and are relatively
simple They can be summarized as follows:
Irish whiskey must be distilled and aged in the island of Ireland
The contained spirits must be distilled to an alcohol by volume
level of less than 94.8% from a yeast-fermented mash of cereal
grains
The product must be aged for at least three years in wooden casks.
If the spirits comprise a blend of two or more such distillates, the
product is referred to as a "blended" Irish whiskey.
Brands
Black Bush, Jameson, Millars,Tullamore Dew

BRANDS OF WHISKY
Blended Scotch whisky
Ballantine's,Black & White,Chivas Regal,Cutty
Sark,Dewar's,Haig,Johnnie Walker,J&B ,Royal Salute whisky,
Something Special, Vat 69,Whyte & Mackay
Tennessee whiskey
Jack Daniel's, George Dickel, Benjamin Prichard's Tennessee Whiskey,
Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey
Indian whisky
Aristocrat,Antiquity,Bagpiper,Blender's Pride, Imperial Blue,
McDowell's No1,Peter Scot, Royal Challenge, Royal

StagWhisky,Signature Whisky, Teacher's Whisky,100 Pipers, Director

Special
Single malt whisky
Jura, Dalmore, Aberlour ,Glenfarclas,Glenfiddich,
Glenmorangie,Highland Park,Talisker,Ardbeg,Bowmore,Speyburn, Glen
Spey, Glenlivet,Macallan
Canadian whisky
Canadian Club, Canadian Mist, Crown Royal, Glen Breton Rare, Forty
Creek, Corby Royal Reserve, Barton's Canadian, Black Velvet Deluxe