The Whisky Handbook

The Whisky Handbook Scotch Whisky So, where did the name ‘Whisky’ come from? The Latin aqua vitae (water of life), from which we get the Gaelic "uisge beatha" (pronounced weshka bay), phonetically became "usky" and then "whisky" in English. Scotland has internationally protected the term "Scotch". For a whisky to be labelled Scotch it has to be produced in Scotland. If it is to be called Scotch, it can’t be produced in England, Wales, Ireland, America or anywhere else. Excellent whiskies are made by similar methods in other countries, notably Japan, but they are not Scotch. "Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae" The first mention of ‘malt’ appeared in the Exchequer Rolls as long ago as 1494. It’s the earliest documented record of distilling in Scotland. Legend suggests that St Patrick introduced distilling to Ireland in the fifth century AD and that the secrets travelled with the Dalriadic Scots when they arrived on the Kintyre peninsula of Scotland around AD500. Distilling was originally used to make perfumes and alcohol for various uses, and evolved to use fermented mashes of grain. The spirit was universally called ‘aqua vitae’ ('water of life') and was often made in monasteries as an early medicine. It was prescribed for the prolonging of life, for the relief of colic, palsy and even smallpox. King James IV (1488-1513) has been documented as liking 'ardent spirits'. He went to Dundee in 1506, where he paid the local barber for a supply of aqua vitae for the king's pleasure. Barbers cooked up a mean whisky. In 1505, the Guild of Surgeon Barbers in Edinburgh controlled the distilling and manufacture of aqua vitae – reflecting the medicinal properties of the drink. So, you could have a ‘dram’, get your haircut and get that pesky appendix sorted in one place! Distilling equipment and the inexact science of making the early whisky meant that the spirit produced varied wildly in quality and was sometimes of a dangerously high strength. In the 15th century, along came better still design. Also, the dissolution of the monasteries meant that many of the monks were in hiding or actually didn’t have much to do. They therefore put their distilling skills to use and passed this knowledge of distilling to a wider, less cloistered community. Distilling quickly spread to others. The fledgling farm and cottage distilling industry drew the attention of the Scottish parliament. Taxes! The first of many! They introduced the first taxes on malt and the final product you could make from it in the mid 17th century, around 1644. Ever increasing taxes were incurred right up to the Act of Union with England in 1707. England set out to tame the rebellious clans of Scotland. The distillers were forced into a secretive battle against the taxman. The excisemen, or gaugers, as they were called by the illicit distillers, were the enemy, in a nation embarking on a struggle against a larger neighbour who controlled them. Smuggling and ‘bootlegging’ continued for a century and a half with most distilleries being a guarded secret. As befitting a product with monastic roots, the Church was often in cahoots. Ministers stored whisky in churches and the illicit spirit was sometimes hidden in coffins – no deception was too abstract. Illegal stills were hidden in caves and glens and smugglers designed intricate hilltop signalling systems when excisemen were seen in the area. By the 1820s, up to 14,000 illicit stills were being dismantled every year, more than half the whisky consumed in Scotland was ‘black market’ and never came anywhere near an exciseman. Then the Duke of Gordon, an early whisky entrepreneur whose land housed some of the best illicit stills in Scotland, proposed in the House of Lords that the Government should make it profitable to distil legal whisky. The 1823 Excise Act was passed allowing the distilling of whisky in return for a licence fee of £10, and a set payment per gallon of proof spirit (2/3d). There was a minimum still size of 40 gallons. Smuggling gradually stopped and over the following few decades the Duke of Gordon got very rich and it set the basis of many of today’s modern distilling dynasties. However, two major developments put Scotch Whisky on the course for global domination. In the 18th century what people drank was Malt Whisky. But, in 1831 Aeneas Coffey refined the Coffey or Patent Still. A new era began. The Coffey still allowed a continuous distillation process. This was Grain Whisky, a different, less intense spirit than Malt Whisky produced in the copper pot stills. This lighter Grain Whisky, when blended with the more ’robust’ malts, produced ‘blends’ a Scotch Whisky which would appeal to a wider, more sophisticated and worldwide market. Blending is accredited to Andrew Usher of Edinburgh in the early 1860s. Then, another helping hand for whisky, from an insect related source, Beetlemania arrived in France, but these beetles didn’t originate from Liverpool! In the late 19th Century, the phylloxera beetle devastated French vineyards in a few short years. Soon, wine and brandy started to disappear from wine cellars all over the World. The Scots were quick to take advantage of this Gallic disaster and using the excellent British trade routes combined with Scots entrepreneurship, Scotch Whisky replaced brandy as the civilised World’s favourite spirit. In 1912 the Wine and Spirit Brand Association (which became the Scotch Whisky Association) was formed. Since then Scotch Whisky has surfed the waves of popularity. Prohibition, wars, revolutions, depressions, recessions, empires disappearing. It’s grown to be the uniquely Scottish spirit sold all over the World. There’s probably a bottle of ‘Scotch’ in just about every bar in the World. Today, the production and labelling of Scotch Whisky is regulated by the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009. Scotch Whisky by Numbers Whisky is one of the main contributors to the Scottish economy, in jobs created and taxable revenue. Even more so when you think of Scotch Whisky, the tourist attraction. At the time of writing, there are over 10,000 people involved in Scotch Whisky production and over 16,000 licensed premises in Scotland. Latest figures suggest that Scotch Whisky earns £134 per second for the Scottish economy. 90% of Scotch Whisky is exported to over 200 countries and 23% of all whisky goes to the Far Eastern markets There are about 20 million casks of Scotch Whisky maturing (which is in excess of 3 billion litres) in Scottish bonds. This is the equivalent of more than 1200 Olympic sized swimming pools. The Whisky Areas of Scotland There are five main areas of whisky production in Scotland recognised in law, as shown on the map. These are: • Speyside • Highland • Lowland • Campbeltown • Islay There are also island whiskies, which are included in the Highlands (except Islay).Each area boasts different climatic conditions, water and natural ingredients all of which have a bearing on the final product in terms of nose, taste and colour. Some of the brands and area characteristics can be seen in the table on the following page. Approximately 50% of the distilleries in Scotland can be found in the Speyside region. Scotch Whisky Characteristics The table below gives some examples of whiskies from each region and their typical characteristics. There are extremes in each region and not all of the whiskies from a region conform to the same characteristics. You can get a peaty Speyside or a lighter Islay malt. Region Examples Characteristics Balvenie Speyside whiskies tend to be light and soft with Glenfiddich Speyside floral tones. They generally include sweet Genlivet notes. The Macallan Highlands Dalmore Glengoyne The Highlands cover a large diverse area so Old Pulteney there are many different whisky characteristics. Edradour They can be from fruity to rich to peated Islands (counted Highland Park Island whiskies vary greatly and need to be as part of the Jura tasted in isolation. Highlands region) Talisker Scapa Most, though not all, Islay Malts are quite Caol Ila peaty due to the nature of the terrain. A number Laphroaig Islay of them could be said to have a medicinal smell Bunnahabhain and taste. There are now eight distilleries on Lagavulin Islay Campbeltown whiskies are a curious mix. Characteristics include a defined dryness with a Springbank pungency, smoke and a solid salinity. Imagine a Campbeltown Longrow Glen cross between the Lowlands and the Western Scotia Glengyle Highlands with a pinch of salt thrown in for good measure. Auchentoshan Lowland whiskies tend to be light bodied and Lowlands Glenkinchie delicate with soft grassy, malty and fruit Bladnoch aromas How Scotch Whisky is Made As we mention, the principles for distilling go back many hundreds of years and the distillation of a modern-style whisky has changed little over the last 200 years. Just three basic ingredients are allowed in Malt Whisky - water, barley and yeast. There are five stages to the process - Malting, Mashing, Fermentation, Distillation and Maturation. Step 1 – Malting Barley contains starch and this needs to be converted into soluble sugars to make alcohol. To begin, the barley must germinate and this is called 'malting'. Each distiller has their own preference about the type of barley they buy, but it has to be a type giving high yields of sugar for fermentation. The barley is steeped, drained and steeped again several times over about 48 hours before going for malting and is then spread on a stone floor called a malting floor for 5-7 days. Very few distilleries do this themselves now. The barley is turned regularly to maintain a constant temperature and to stop the grains sticking together.

Load more