What are the raw materials of whisky?
The 3 basic raw materials of whisky consist of grain, water and yeast. Grain is used to convert starch to sugar and sugar to alcohol. Barley, wheat, rye, corn and oats are used to make whisky called "single grain". Barley in particular is the grain most preferred by the Scots. The vast majority of high-alcohol beverages consist of water. For example, the remaining 60% of a 40-degree alcoholic beverage contains water.
Who is the master distiller?
The role of humans in whisky is very important. Whisky is a craft work, it requires great experience and mastery. It is the duty of master blenders to create the characters of whiskies.
What are whisky types?
Whisky types can differ according to the country they are produced in, production method and raw materials used. There are Scotch, American, Irish, Japanese or Canadian whiskies and these types are also divided within themselves. For example; Single Malt, Blended Malt, Single Grain, Blended Grain and Blended whiskies made from 100% barley are produced in Scotland. At the same time, the same types exist in Ireland and Japan. In America, mainly Bourbon and Rye whisky, which must use a minimum of 51% corn, are produced. While some whiskies are made from 100% rye, different grains such as wheat, corn, oats can also be used in some whiskies. Apart from this, we can also separate them as traditional distillation, i.e. whiskies made in copper stills or whiskies made with the continuous distilling method.
What is single malt?
"Single malt" is the general name for whiskies produced in a single distillery, with a single grain and in the traditional way.
What is Single Grain?
Single grain whiskies are also produced in a single distillery like single malt whiskies. However, their distillation methods are different. They are made with the "continuous distillation" or "Coffey style distillation" method developed by Aeneas Coffey, an Irish inventor in the 1820s, and all kinds of grain can be used.
What is blended whisky?
"Blended whisky" is a term used for the mixture of whiskies from different distilleries. In Scotland, if a certain amount of single grain and a certain amount of single malt whisky are brought together and mixed harmoniously, blended malts may emerge. For example; there are also whiskies called vatted or pure malt. If we encounter the term pure malt or vatted, let's understand that only single malt whiskies have come together. Similarly, there are blends of single grain whiskies.
What are the characteristics of Scottish whisky?
Scottish whisky regions are basically shown as 4 on the map. These are Lowland, Highland, Speyside and islands. While Speyside is shown within the Highland region in some maps, it is possible to divide Highland into 4 regions, namely north, south, east and west.
What are the characteristics of Lowland whisky?
Lowland is the most temperate region of Scotland. Generally, barley fields, flowers and lush green plains are in this region. Naturally, the climatic scents and character of the region, the softness of the flowing rivers also shape the characteristics of this region's water. Although there are not many distilleries, the whiskies of the Lowland region can be called whiskies that are produced in very high quantities and are delicate.
What are the characteristics of Highland whiskies?
Highland, although sometimes called a whisky region on its own due to its geographical size, it would generally make more sense to divide it into four when going into detail. Especially the north, south, east and west Highland whiskies carry different characters from each other. Since it is a region with high altitude hills and mountains, the whiskies in the north Highland are generally made with glacial waters in cold environments. This gives whiskies a completely different character. Apart from this, while the whiskies of the distilleries close to the sea in the west Highland are iodine and slightly salty, the whiskies on the east Highland side can be called the region where whiskies carrying these characters are produced because they are in greener, more forest and flowery regions.
What are the characteristics of Speyside whiskies?
Speyside is located within the Highland region and is called the region where Scotch whisky was first produced. The biggest feature of this region is that it is a rivers region. At the same time, the region takes its name from Scotland's largest and fastest flowing river "Spey". Almost half of the Scottish distilleries are located in this region and they use the waters of this region in production. Balanced, fruity whiskies that carry less smoky or sometimes no smoke notes compared to the islands in Scotland carry the character of this region. At the same time, the use of sweet wine casks is also one of the preferences of Speyside region distilleries.
What are the characteristics of Islay and island whiskies?
There are also Scottish whisky distilleries on different islands such as Islay, located in the west of Scotland, or Skye in the north, or the Orkney islands located in the far north. Especially the character of the distilleries on Islay and Skye islands can be called whiskies with intense smoky, smoked notes and iodine, slightly salty whiskies. Among the whiskies made on other islands; while there are iodine whiskies carrying sea notes alongside the smoky ones, in many of them, whiskies in the old traditional style still come to the fore.
