Single malt whisky
Encyclopedia
Single malt whisky is a whisky
made at one particular distillery from a mash
that uses one particular malt
ed grain, which is ordinarily barley
.
Single malts are typically associated with Scotland
, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under Scotch Whisky Regulations, a "Single Malt Scotch Whisky" must be made exclusively from malted barley (although the addition of E150A caramel colouring is allowed), must be distilled using a pot still
, and must be aged for at least three years in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres. These constraints may not apply to whisky marketed as single malt that is produced elsewhere. For example, there is no definition of the term single malt in the law of the United States
, and some American whisky advertised as single malt is produced from malted rye
rather than malted barley.
process, as outlined below. There are several types of Single Malts available from the distilleries including Single Barrel Single Malts which are the product of a single batch that was stored for 3+ years in a single oak barrel. These single barrel variants afford the opportunity for the consumer to see the inflience of different types of storage on the same whisky (e.g., first use bourbon barrels, port pipes, etc.). The more common form of Single Malt is a marrying at bottling time of various batches that are mixed together or vatted to achieve consistent flavours from one bottling run to the next.
and then mixed with ground barley grist to create a mash. Water is also used later in the production process to dilute most whisky before maturation, and added once again before bottling.
Most distilleries use different water sources in the various steps, and this becomes a crucial part of the character of the end product.
Most new-make malt whisky is diluted to about 62.5% before it is placed in casks to mature. These days, many distilleries are using distilled water for diluting whisky before it is casked as well as for diluting the whisky to bottling strength (40-46% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)) after maturation. Others, like Jura
or Bruichladdich use water from local burns or springs to dilute new-make before it is casked. Much new-make whisky is shipped in tanker trucks to central warehouses where local tap water is used to dilute it before casking, and again at bottling time.
Since large amounts of water are used during the process of whisky production, water supplies are a key factor for the location of any distillery.
Barley, yeast
and water
are the only ingredients required in the production of (barley-based) single malt whisky.
The barley used to make the whisky is "malted" by soaking the grain in water for 2–3 days and then allowing it to germinate to convert starch (which is insoluble in water and not available for fermentation by yeast) to fermentable sugars.
Traditionally in Scotland each distillery had its own malting floor where the germinating seeds were regularly turned. The "pagoda roof" (many now false) which ventilated the malt kiln can still be seen at many distilleries both in Scotland and in other countries. However, most of the distilleries now use commercial "maltsters" to prepare their malt.
In most cases, some level of smoke from a peat
-heated fire is introduced to the kiln
to add phenols
, a smoky aroma and flavour to the whisky. Some of the more intensely smoky malts have phenol levels between 25 and 50 parts per million (ppm).
The three Scottish malts with a reputation for being the most peaty are Ardbeg
, Laphroaig
(la-froyg) and Lagavulin
(lagga-voolin), all from Islay
.
More subtle malts can have phenol levels of around 2–3 ppm.
Entirely non-smoked (non-peated, unpeated) malts are made by the Glengoyne Distillery, who only uses hot air for drying.
The extraction is done in a large kettle (usually made of stainless steel) called a mash tun. At first, the hot water dissolves
the sugars (maltose) and enzymes (diastase) in the grist. Then the enzymes act on the starch left over from the malting stage, continuing the conversion to sugar, and producing a sugary liquid called wort
. Typically, each batch of grist is mashed three times or so to extract all the fermentable sugars. The first water is injected at approximately 60-C, the second portion at approximately 72-C and the third and final portion at approximately 88-C. The wort from the first two water courses is drained into Wash Backs for further processing whereas the third course is retained as the first charge in the next batch.
Yeast
is added to the wort in a large vessel (often tens of thousands of litres) called a washback. Washbacks are commonly made of Oregon Pine
or stainless steel. The yeast feeds on the sugars and as a by-product produces both carbon dioxide
and alcohol
. This process is called fermentation
and can take up to three days to complete. When complete, the liquid has an alcohol content of 5 to 7% by volume, and is now known as wash
. Up until this point the process has been quite similar to the production of beer.
The wash is then distilled
. The wash is heated, boiling off the alcohol
, which has a lower boiling point
than water; the vapour is collected and cooled to condense it back into a liquid form.
Scottish regulations require single malts to be distilled in pot still
s. In other jurisdictions, column still
s may be used.
The initial distilled spirit produced by a pot still, known as low wine has an alcohol content of about 20 to 40%. The low wines are then pumped into a second still, known as the spirit still, and distilled a second, (and sometimes a third) time. The final spirit called "new make spirit" generally has an alcohol content of 60 to 70%.
When a pot still wears out and has to be replaced, or when a distillery decides to expand the number of stills it operates, precise measurements of the existing stills are taken to ensure the new stills are reproduced exactly like the old.
s to mature. By law, all Scotch whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years in oak casks, though many single malts are matured for much longer. The whisky continues to develop and change as it spends time in the wood, and maturation periods of twenty years or more are not uncommon. Each year spent in the wood results in the evaporation of between 1 and 2% of each cask's contents, depending on the ambient conditions at which the casks are stored. Because alcohol is more volatile than water, the alcohol content of the remaining whisky drops over time. This is known as the angel's share.
The selection of casks has a profound effect on the character of the final whisky. For single malts produced within the United States
, charred new oak casks must be used.
, as U.S. law requires several types of American whiskey (specifically, all American whiskey labeled as malt, rye malt, rye, wheat, bourbon, or straight whiskey) to be aged in new oak casks.
Bourbon casks impart a characteristic vanilla flavour to the whisky.
Sherry
casks are also commonly used. This practice arose because sherry used to be shipped to Britain from Spain in the cask rather than having been bottled, and the casks were expensive to return empty and were unwanted by the sherry cellars. In addition to imparting the flavours of their former contents, sherry casks lend maturing spirit a heavier body and a deep amber and sometimes reddish colour.
Stainless steel shipping containers, however, have reduced the supply of wooden sherry casks, to the extent that the Macallan Distillery builds casks and leases them to the sherry cellars in Spain
for a time, then has them shipped back to Scotland
.
Other casks used include those that formerly held port wine
, madeira
, rum
or cognac
.
If the bottle is the product of single malt whiskies produced at more than one distillery, the whisky is called a vatted malt
, blended malt, or pure malt. If the single malt is mixed with grain whisky
, the result is a blended whisky. Single malts can be bottled by the distillery that produced them or by an independent bottler
.
The age statement on a bottle of single malt whisky is the age of the youngest malt in the mix, as commonly the whiskies of several years are mixed together in a vat to create a more consistent house style. On occasion the product of a single cask of whisky is bottled and released as a "Single Cask."
While "cask-strength
", or relatively undiluted, whisky (often having an alcohol content as high as 60% or higher) has recently become popular, the vast majority of whisky is diluted to its "bottling strength" - between 40% and 46% ABV - and bottled for sale.
": chilled to precipitate out fatty acid esters and then filtered to remove them. Most whiskies are bottled this way, unless specified as unchillfiltered or non chill filtered. Unchillfiltered whisky will often turn cloudy when stored at cool temperatures or when cool water is added to them, and this is perfectly normal. Unchillfiltered, cask-strength whisky is generally regarded as whisky in its purest form.
Unlike wine
, whisky does not continue to mature in the bottle.
, which do not allow additives in "straight" whisky. The use of the caramel additive must be disclosed when the whisky is sold in some jurisdictions, although not in Scotland itself.
.".
Single malt whisky is associated with the Scottish tradition, although there are also Irish and other single malts. Penderyn, the only whisky commercially produced in Wales
, is also a single malt.
From the 15th century onwards, whisky was heavily taxed in Scotland, to the point that most of the spirit was produced illegally. However, in 1823, Parliament
passed an act making commercial distillation much more profitable, while imposing punishments on landowners when unlicensed distilleries were found on their properties. George Smith was the first person to take out a licence for a distillery under the new law, founding the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824.
In the 1830s, Aeneas Coffey
refined a design originally created by Robert Stein for continuous stills which produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional pot stills, but with much less flavour. Quickly, merchants began blending the malt whisky with the grain whisky distilled in the continuous stills, making the first blended Scotch whisky. The blended whisky proved quite successful, less expensive to produce than malt with more flavour and character than grain. The combination allowed the single malt producers to expand their operations as the blended whisky was more popular on the international market.
Single malt distilleries also exist in the US, England, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Japan and South Africa.
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey 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...
made at one particular distillery from a mash
Mash ingredients
Mash ingredients, mash bill, or grain bill are those materials used in brewing from which a wort can be obtained for fermenting into alcohol...
that uses one particular malt
Malt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
ed grain, which is ordinarily barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
.
Single malts are typically associated with Scotland
Single malt Scotch
Single Malt Scotch is whisky made in Scotland using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient...
, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under Scotch Whisky Regulations, a "Single Malt Scotch Whisky" must be made exclusively from malted barley (although the addition of E150A caramel colouring is allowed), must be distilled using a pot still
Pot still
A pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash or wine . This is called a batch distillation ....
, and must be aged for at least three years in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres. These constraints may not apply to whisky marketed as single malt that is produced elsewhere. For example, there is no definition of the term single malt in the law of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and some American whisky advertised as single malt is produced from malted rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
rather than malted barley.
Production
All single malt goes through a similar batch productionBatch production
Batch production is a technique used in manufacturing, in which the object in question is created stage by stage over a series of workstations. Batch production is common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients , inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture...
process, as outlined below. There are several types of Single Malts available from the distilleries including Single Barrel Single Malts which are the product of a single batch that was stored for 3+ years in a single oak barrel. These single barrel variants afford the opportunity for the consumer to see the inflience of different types of storage on the same whisky (e.g., first use bourbon barrels, port pipes, etc.). The more common form of Single Malt is a marrying at bottling time of various batches that are mixed together or vatted to achieve consistent flavours from one bottling run to the next.
Water
Water is first added to the barley to promote germinationGermination
Germination is the process in which a plant or fungus emerges from a seed or spore, respectively, and begins growth. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the...
and then mixed with ground barley grist to create a mash. Water is also used later in the production process to dilute most whisky before maturation, and added once again before bottling.
Most distilleries use different water sources in the various steps, and this becomes a crucial part of the character of the end product.
Most new-make malt whisky is diluted to about 62.5% before it is placed in casks to mature. These days, many distilleries are using distilled water for diluting whisky before it is casked as well as for diluting the whisky to bottling strength (40-46% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)) after maturation. Others, like Jura
Isle of Jura Single Malt
Isle of Jura Single Malt is a Scotch whisky distilled at the Isle of Jura Distillery located on the island of Jura located off the West Coast of Scotland...
or Bruichladdich use water from local burns or springs to dilute new-make before it is casked. Much new-make whisky is shipped in tanker trucks to central warehouses where local tap water is used to dilute it before casking, and again at bottling time.
Since large amounts of water are used during the process of whisky production, water supplies are a key factor for the location of any distillery.
Malting
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
and water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
are the only ingredients required in the production of (barley-based) single malt whisky.
The barley used to make the whisky is "malted" by soaking the grain in water for 2–3 days and then allowing it to germinate to convert starch (which is insoluble in water and not available for fermentation by yeast) to fermentable sugars.
Traditionally in Scotland each distillery had its own malting floor where the germinating seeds were regularly turned. The "pagoda roof" (many now false) which ventilated the malt kiln can still be seen at many distilleries both in Scotland and in other countries. However, most of the distilleries now use commercial "maltsters" to prepare their malt.
Drying in the Kiln
The germination is halted (by heating) after 3–5 days, when the optimum amount of starch has been converted to fermentable sugars. The method for drying the germinated barley is by heating it with hot air produced by an oil, coal or even electric heat source.Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
-heated fire is introduced to the kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
to add phenols
Phenols
In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group...
, a smoky aroma and flavour to the whisky. Some of the more intensely smoky malts have phenol levels between 25 and 50 parts per million (ppm).
The three Scottish malts with a reputation for being the most peaty are Ardbeg
Ardbeg
Ardbeg Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery on the south coast of the isle of Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides group of islands. The distillery claims to produce the peatiest Islay whisky and uses malted barley sourced from the maltings in Port Ellen. It is one of the...
, Laphroaig
Laphroaig
Laphroaig , is an Islay single malt Scotch whisky distillery and brand name. It is named for the area of land at the head of Loch Laphroaig on the south coast of the Isle of Islay...
(la-froyg) and Lagavulin
Lagavulin Single Malt
Lagavulin Single Malt is an Islay single malt Scotch whisky produced at Lagavulin on the island of Islay, United Kingdom. The whisky has a powerful, peat-smoke aroma, and is described as being robustly full-bodied, well balanced, and smooth, with a slight sweetness on the palate.The standard...
(lagga-voolin), all from Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...
.
More subtle malts can have phenol levels of around 2–3 ppm.
Entirely non-smoked (non-peated, unpeated) malts are made by the Glengoyne Distillery, who only uses hot air for drying.
Mashing
The malt is milled into a coarse flour (grist) which is made of three substances: (1) Husks (70%); (2) Grits (20%); and Flour (10%); to which three courses of hot water is added to extract the sugars.The extraction is done in a large kettle (usually made of stainless steel) called a mash tun. At first, the hot water dissolves
Solvation
Solvation, also sometimes called dissolution, is the process of attraction and association of molecules of a solvent with molecules or ions of a solute...
the sugars (maltose) and enzymes (diastase) in the grist. Then the enzymes act on the starch left over from the malting stage, continuing the conversion to sugar, and producing a sugary liquid called wort
Wort (brewing)
Wort, , is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol.- Production :...
. Typically, each batch of grist is mashed three times or so to extract all the fermentable sugars. The first water is injected at approximately 60-C, the second portion at approximately 72-C and the third and final portion at approximately 88-C. The wort from the first two water courses is drained into Wash Backs for further processing whereas the third course is retained as the first charge in the next batch.
Fermentation
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
is added to the wort in a large vessel (often tens of thousands of litres) called a washback. Washbacks are commonly made of Oregon Pine
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
or stainless steel. The yeast feeds on the sugars and as a by-product produces both carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. This process is called fermentation
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
and can take up to three days to complete. When complete, the liquid has an alcohol content of 5 to 7% by volume, and is now known as wash
Wash (distilling)
In the production of distilled beverages, the term wash is used to refer to the liquid produced by the fermentation step, which is the input to the distillation process which concentrates the alcohol.-See also:...
. Up until this point the process has been quite similar to the production of beer.
Distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
. The wash is heated, boiling off the alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, which has a lower boiling point
Boiling point
The boiling point of an element or a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid....
than water; the vapour is collected and cooled to condense it back into a liquid form.
Scottish regulations require single malts to be distilled in pot still
Pot still
A pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash or wine . This is called a batch distillation ....
s. In other jurisdictions, column still
Column still
A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still, is a variety of still consisting of two columns invented in 1826 by Robert Stein, a Clackmannanshire distiller, and it was first used at the Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife, Scotland. The design was enhanced and...
s may be used.
The initial distilled spirit produced by a pot still, known as low wine has an alcohol content of about 20 to 40%. The low wines are then pumped into a second still, known as the spirit still, and distilled a second, (and sometimes a third) time. The final spirit called "new make spirit" generally has an alcohol content of 60 to 70%.
When a pot still wears out and has to be replaced, or when a distillery decides to expand the number of stills it operates, precise measurements of the existing stills are taken to ensure the new stills are reproduced exactly like the old.
Dilution prior to ageing
Most new-make malt whisky is diluted to about 62.5% a.b.v. before it is placed in casks to mature.Maturation
The "new-make spirit", or unaged whisky, is then placed in oak caskCASK
Peripheral plasma membrane protein CASK is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CASK gene. This gene is also known by several other names: CMG 2 , calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine protein kinase 3 and membrane-associated guanylate kinase 2.-Genomics:This gene is located on the short arm of...
s to mature. By law, all Scotch whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years in oak casks, though many single malts are matured for much longer. The whisky continues to develop and change as it spends time in the wood, and maturation periods of twenty years or more are not uncommon. Each year spent in the wood results in the evaporation of between 1 and 2% of each cask's contents, depending on the ambient conditions at which the casks are stored. Because alcohol is more volatile than water, the alcohol content of the remaining whisky drops over time. This is known as the angel's share.
The selection of casks has a profound effect on the character of the final whisky. For single malts produced within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, charred new oak casks must be used.
Reused casks
Outside of the United States, the most common practice is to reuse casks that previously contained American whiskeyAmerican whiskey
American whiskey is a distilled beverage produced in the United States from a fermented mash of cereal grain.The production and labeling of American whiskey are governed by Title 27 of the U.S...
, as U.S. law requires several types of American whiskey (specifically, all American whiskey labeled as malt, rye malt, rye, wheat, bourbon, or straight whiskey) to be aged in new oak casks.
Bourbon casks impart a characteristic vanilla flavour to the whisky.
Sherry
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
casks are also commonly used. This practice arose because sherry used to be shipped to Britain from Spain in the cask rather than having been bottled, and the casks were expensive to return empty and were unwanted by the sherry cellars. In addition to imparting the flavours of their former contents, sherry casks lend maturing spirit a heavier body and a deep amber and sometimes reddish colour.
Stainless steel shipping containers, however, have reduced the supply of wooden sherry casks, to the extent that the Macallan Distillery builds casks and leases them to the sherry cellars in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
for a time, then has them shipped back to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Other casks used include those that formerly held port wine
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
, madeira
Madeira wine
Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. Some wines produced in small quantities in California and Texas are also referred to as "Madeira", or "Madera", although those wines do not conform to the EU PDO regulations...
, rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
or cognac
Cognac (drink)
Cognac , named after the town of Cognac in France, is a variety of brandy. It is produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime....
.
Vatting, dilution and bottling
To be called a single malt whisky in Scotland, a bottle may only contain whisky distilled from malted barley (or other single malted grain) and produced at a single distillery.If the bottle is the product of single malt whiskies produced at more than one distillery, the whisky is called a vatted malt
Vatted malt
A blended malt, formerly called a vatted malt, or pure malt, is a blend of different single malt whiskies from different distilleries. These terms are most commonly used in reference to Scotch whisky....
, blended malt, or pure malt. If the single malt is mixed with grain whisky
Grain whisky
Grain whisky ordinarily refers to any whisky made from at least some grains other than malted barley, such as whisky made using maize , wheat or rye....
, the result is a blended whisky. Single malts can be bottled by the distillery that produced them or by an independent bottler
Independent Bottlers
It has become customary for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves....
.
The age statement on a bottle of single malt whisky is the age of the youngest malt in the mix, as commonly the whiskies of several years are mixed together in a vat to create a more consistent house style. On occasion the product of a single cask of whisky is bottled and released as a "Single Cask."
While "cask-strength
Cask strength
Cask strength is a term used in whisky-making to describe the level of alcohol-by-volume strength that is used for a whisky during its storage in a cask for maturation – typically in the range of 60–65% abv....
", or relatively undiluted, whisky (often having an alcohol content as high as 60% or higher) has recently become popular, the vast majority of whisky is diluted to its "bottling strength" - between 40% and 46% ABV - and bottled for sale.
Chill filtration
Whisky can be "chill filteredChill filtering
Chill filtering is a method in whisky making for removing residue. In chill filtering, whisky is cooled to between -10 and 4 degrees Celsius and passed through a fine adsorption filter...
": chilled to precipitate out fatty acid esters and then filtered to remove them. Most whiskies are bottled this way, unless specified as unchillfiltered or non chill filtered. Unchillfiltered whisky will often turn cloudy when stored at cool temperatures or when cool water is added to them, and this is perfectly normal. Unchillfiltered, cask-strength whisky is generally regarded as whisky in its purest form.
Unlike wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, whisky does not continue to mature in the bottle.
Additives
E150A caramel colouring may be added to Scotch single malts prior to bottling, to give the whisky a more rich and well-aged appearance. No other additives are allowed in Scotch whisky. This contrasts with the rules governing Canadian whiskey production, which allow the addition of other flavourings as well as caramel, and with the rules governing American whiskeyAmerican whiskey
American whiskey is a distilled beverage produced in the United States from a fermented mash of cereal grain.The production and labeling of American whiskey are governed by Title 27 of the U.S...
, which do not allow additives in "straight" whisky. The use of the caramel additive must be disclosed when the whisky is sold in some jurisdictions, although not in Scotland itself.
Storage
Whisky should be stored out of direct heat or sunlight, so as not to undergo evaporation. Corked bottles should be stored upright, avoiding contact between the cork and the spirit inside. The more contact with the cork whisky has, the quicker the cork will disintegrate and/or affect the whisky's taste.History
Distillation of whisky has been performed in Scotland and Ireland for centuries. The first written record of whisky comes from 1405 in Ireland, while the production of whisky from malted barley is first mentioned in Scotland in an entry on the 1494 Exchequer Rolls, which reads "Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor, by order of the King, wherewith to make aqua vitaeAqua vitae
Aqua vitae, or aqua vita, is an archaic name for a concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol. The term was in wide use during the Middle Ages, although its origin is undoubtedly much earlier having been used by Saint Patrick and his fellow monks to refer to both the alcohol and the waters of baptism...
.".
Single malt whisky is associated with the Scottish tradition, although there are also Irish and other single malts. Penderyn, the only whisky commercially produced in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, is also a single malt.
From the 15th century onwards, whisky was heavily taxed in Scotland, to the point that most of the spirit was produced illegally. However, in 1823, Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
passed an act making commercial distillation much more profitable, while imposing punishments on landowners when unlicensed distilleries were found on their properties. George Smith was the first person to take out a licence for a distillery under the new law, founding the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824.
In the 1830s, Aeneas Coffey
Aeneas Coffey
-Biography:Coffey was born in Calais, France, where he spent his early years. His family returned to Dublin , where he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He entered the excise service around 1799–1800 as a gauger...
refined a design originally created by Robert Stein for continuous stills which produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional pot stills, but with much less flavour. Quickly, merchants began blending the malt whisky with the grain whisky distilled in the continuous stills, making the first blended Scotch whisky. The blended whisky proved quite successful, less expensive to produce than malt with more flavour and character than grain. The combination allowed the single malt producers to expand their operations as the blended whisky was more popular on the international market.
Single malt distilleries also exist in the US, England, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Japan and South Africa.
See also
- WhiskyWhiskyWhisky or whiskey 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...
- Scotch whiskyScotch whiskyScotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
- Single malt ScotchSingle malt ScotchSingle Malt Scotch is whisky made in Scotland using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient...
- The Scotch Malt Whisky SocietyThe Scotch Malt Whisky SocietyThe Scotch Malt Whisky Society , founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles and sells single cask, single malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 125 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and throughout the world, bottles them and retails directly to...
- Swedish Mackmyra WhiskyMackmyra WhiskyMackmyra Whisky is a Swedish whisky distillery founded in 1999 by eight classmates - alumni from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The new distillery is situated at the Mackmyra Bruk old facilities, in buildings that are landmark declared, and therefore only a minimum of additions and...
- Japanese whiskyJapanese whiskyWhisky production in Japan began around 1870, but the first commercial production was in 1924 upon the opening of the country's first distillery, Yamazaki...
- Irish whiskeyIrish whiskeyIrish whiskey is whiskey made in Ireland.Key regulations defining Irish whiskey and its production are established by the Irish Whiskey Act of 1980, and are relatively simple...
- Blended whiskeyBlended whiskeyA blended whisky is the product of blending different types of whiskies and often also neutral and near-neutral spirits, coloring, and flavorings...
- Pure pot still whiskeyPure pot still whiskeyPure pot still whiskey is whiskey distilled by a pot still. The term emphasizes that the whiskey contains only spirits produced from a pot still, without being blended with column still whiskey or neutral grain spirits...
- Blended malt
- Grain whiskyGrain whiskyGrain whisky ordinarily refers to any whisky made from at least some grains other than malted barley, such as whisky made using maize , wheat or rye....
- Bourbon whiskeyBourbon whiskeyBourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
- Bottled in bondBottled in bondBottled in bond refers to American-made spirit that has been aged and bottled according to a set of legal regulations contained in the United States government's Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits Bottled in bond refers to American-made spirit that has been aged and bottled according to a...
, Small batch whiskey, Single barrel whiskey – similar American designations