It develops today whisky almost everywhere in the world, it is sufficient to dispose of pure water, selected grains, and oak barrels in which ages the water of life produced by distillation.
-Blended Scotch Whisky: Assembly of grain, all Scottish whisky and malt whiskies. There therefore now:
-Blended Malt Scotch Whisky and Blended Grain Scotch Whisky: assemblages of whiskies of malt or grain from several Scottish distilleries.
-Single Malt Scotch Whisky or Single Grain Scotch Whisky: whisky malt or grain from a single distillery.
Another reference can also meet: “single cask” (“single barrel” for the bourbon), which means from life of a single water was meticulously selected after several decades of aging. Often, the water of life is proposed to its natural level without reduction by addition of water, and without prior filtration sometimes.
Many other words from the world of whisky deserve some additional explanations.
-Grain and Malt: the first word simply refers to the grain of a grain (barley, corn, rye or wheat): it is reduced to flour and warm water and yeast additinné, and the resulting slurry is then distilled in stills. The same process applies also to the malt, barley that are wetted and that it has stopped the natural germination by heating with a more or less important part of peat.
-Scotch and irish whiskey are mainly barley and distilled twice in Scotland three times in Ireland. In Scotland each distillery produces only a single brand (but usually several different cuvées). In Ireland in contrast, a same Distillery, produced often several brands: that of Middleton, near Cork, emerge Jameson, Paddy, John Powers…
-Bourbon: American, produced mainly in Kentucky and Tennessee, it must be developed from 51% corn to a minimum.
-Rye: he also produced in the southern United States, is at least 51% rye. As Canadian Whisky.
-Vintage: synonym of marketing. Not only barley or corn are not tributaries – a organoleptically means – of the basement and the climate, but also can be very legally make Scotch whisky with Canadian barley, and can even store the – malty or not – during very long months. What really counts is the duration of the breeding (3 years minimum in Scotland): the date of bottling, that serious producers are always appear on their label, is the only really important information.
-Master-blender: the equivalent of master chai in Bordeaux or the head of cave in Champagne.
