What is Whisky?

Whisky is produced the world over, and while it may be spelt differently according to the region in which it is produced with Irish and American whiskey usually being spelt with an ‘e’ all are made by distilling grains and aging the resulting amber liquid in oak casks.

Whisky may be made from a variety of different grains such as rye, corn and wheat. All whisky, whether it be produced in Scotland, Ireland or the USA is comprised of three main ingredients namely – water, grain and yeast while the production process is uniform (see steps 1 - 5 below) whisky produced around the globe have taken on numerous guises.

Scottish Whisky

Also known as  "Scotch" includes the following types of whisky:

• Malt Whisky - This whisky is made entirely from malted barley but can also comprise of batches from different distilleries.
• Single Malt - Whisky in which all malt comes from a single distillery
• Blended Malt - a blend of various single malts
• Single Cask - whisky that comprises from one cask
• Single Grain - whisky which uses alcohol from a single distillery but may blend different grains from the distillery
• Blended Grain - where multiple grains from multiple distilleries are used 
• Blended - whisky which is a blend of single malt and grain whisky

Irish Whiskey

Irish whiskey is generally made from barley. It can either be made entirely from malted barley in which case it is a single-malt whiskey, or from a blend of unmalted and malted barley, in which case it is referred too as pure pot still. Blended Irish Whiskeys may also include corn or wheat mixed with a blend of barley. The addition of Peat in the drying process (see step 1 below) too add flavour is also more common practice in Irish Whiskey.

Bourbon

Bourbon is a whiskey in which 50% or more of the grain used is corn, which often explains why they are referred to as straight rye, straight corn etc. All Bourbons are aged for at least 2 years in new oak barrels before being bottled. An interesting fact is that many Scottish whisky’s are aged in old-bourbon casks (as they are only allowed to be used once in the USA). The other popular alternative is sherry or port barrels.

Tennessee Whiskey

Tennessee whiskey cannot be referred to as Bourbon as they charcoal filter their whisky which is deemed an outside agent and thus not eligible to be classified as a Bourbon.

The production process of whiskey to fully understand the different categories:

Step 1 – Malting Grain is steeped in water and allowed to germinate, thus activating enzymes needed to convert the grains starch into fermentable sugars before being placed in a kiln for drying. Peat may be added at this stage, to add flavour to the barley. Step 2 – Mashing The dried malt is ground into a course flour “grist” too which three sets of warm water are added, each set warmer than the one before completing the conversion of starch too sugars. The water now holding the sort after dissolved sugars referred to as the “wort” is then drained off. Step 3 – Fermentation Yeast is now added to the cooled wort converting the sugars into alcohol. When the process dies down one is left with a “wash” containing approximately 6 – 8% Alcohol by Volume. At this point the wash is essentially “beer”. Step 4 – Distillation The most critical stage in the process, the wash is added to a still which is heated to just below the boiling point of water, until the alcohol in the wash is turned to vapour. This vapour is condensed and returned to liquid form “distilled” and is then distilled a second time. The second distillation is more controlled and is where the final spirit is collected. The liquid is collected in a spirit-safe where the master distiller decides which cut is to his satisfaction. The foreshots (the first runs of the spirit) and the feints (the last runs of the spirit) are added into the next batch to be redistilled. The middle-cut is then used for maturation. This middle-cut usually contains between 68 – 72% Alcohol by Volumne. Step 5 – Maturation The spirit is placed into oak casks to mature for a minimum of three years. The quality and preparation of the casks is vitally important as it influences the colours and flavours of the whisky. During the aging process the cask will loose +/- 2% of it’s volumne each year due to evaporation this is referred to as the “angels share”

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