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Whisky
From Whiskipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Whisky (disambiguation)
Whisky (or whiskey) is one of those things that get you drunk that all adults really ought to have a grasp of. Not just men, but women, too. Women love whisky, haven’t you heard? But if you don’t, don’t worry. Here’s the basics.
The word “whisky” is derived from the Gaelic word for water (uisge or uisce). Whisky is called uisge beatha which means “water of life” and is derived from the Latin aqua vitae.[1] (Warning: drinking too much whisky can be fatal).
How to Make It
Whisky is distilled from a blend of grains that has been mashed together and left to ferment for a period of time. Easy.
Ingredients
Main article: Whisky ingredients
The whisky world can be broadly divided into that of malt, grain and corn. Distilled whisky is usually a combination of them. So, classic Scotch whisky is a blend of malt and grain, while American whiskeys are either corn-based (Bourbons) or rye-based. But both types differ from all other whiskies, in spelling as well. It’s like baseball.
Blends vs Single Malt
All whiskies (and whiskeys) are blends of a sort. So, while the average Bourbon whiskey has to have at least 51 per cent corn – this can go up to 80 per cent—the rest is still made of other grains, like malted barley, if only to give it aroma. The Scotch malt blend is the most famous type. Single Malts, however, are a class apart, pure, unblended products where all the complexities come from the ageing process. Single malts make you look more sophisticated, basically.
What’s Mash?
Main article: Whisky mash
A hit American TV series from the 1970s set in the Korean war which bears no relation to whisky whatsoever. Also a potato dish, a kind of dance and a gloopy mix from which liquor is distilled. Mash is what you get when you mill grain and cook it in water so that the enzymes break the starch into sugar. Malt whisky mash consists entirely of malt, but for grain whisky the mash usually consists of some 20 per cent malted barley and 80 per cent unmalted grains.
Distillation
The mash is pumped into a still—a massive pear shaped copper vessel—and heated till the alcohol becomes vapour and rises up to the cooling plant where the vapour is condensed into its liquid state (whisky). After that it’s aged in a cask, often made of oak.
Age
Whiskies don’t mature in the bottle, they mature in the cask—so the age of a whisky is the time between distillation and bottling.
