Whiskey

Whiskey is a a type of alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash.

Various grains (which may be malted) are used, such as barley, corn, rye or wheat.
Whiskey is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of white oak.

Whiskey or whisky?

Very often we find this drink writtten in both ways. This is not an illiteracy or bad
grammar, its a big diference beetwen this two terms. Therefore, the irish and
american products like bourbon, rye or Tennesee are commonly known as whiskey
while the rest of the world producers use the term of whisky. Scotch is the
internationally recognized term of scotch whisky.

Etymology. Whiskey is the english word originated from gaelic term uisce (or
uisge) meanning water. Distilled alcohol was known in latin like aque vitae (water
of life); this was translated in gaelic as uisce beatha and gave through centuries the
common term we use nowadays of whiskey.

Production

Distillation. The simplest standard distillation device is the still (pot still)
consisting of a single heated chamber and a vessel to collect purified alcohol. The
still is made of copper (or stainless steel with copper pipes) since it removes
sulfure-based compounds from the alcohol that would make it unpleasant to drink.

Aging. Whiskies do not mature in the bottle, only in the cask, so the "age" of a
whisky is only the time between distillation and bottling. This reflects how much
the cask has interacted with the whiskey, changing its chemical makeup and taste.

Packaging. Most whiskies are sold at or near an alcohholic strenght of 40% abv.

Type

Malt whiskey made primarly from malted barley

Grain whiskey made from any type of grain

Malts and grains are combined in various ways:

 single malt whiskey is whiskey from a single distillery made from a mash
that use only one particular malted grain; it contain whiskey from diferent
casks and years, so the blender can achieve a recognisible taste and flavor,
specific to the distillery, and, in most cases the whiskey bear the name of the
distillery;
blended malt whiskey is a mixture of single malt from different distilleries; if
the whiskey is labelled pure malt or just malt almost certainly is a blended
malt whiskey; this was formerly named vatted whiskey;
blended whiskey is made from a mixture of different types of whiskey; a
blend may contain whiskey from different distilerries so that the blender can
produce a flavour consistent whit the brand
cask strength (barrel proof) whiskies are rare, and usually onlyy the very
best whiskeies are bottled in tis way
single cask (single barrel) are bottled from an individual cask, and often
bottles are labelled with specific barrel and bottle numbers.

American whiskey is distilled from a mash of cereal grain. This are the most
common types listed:

- bourbon, made from a mash containing at least 51% corn

- corn whiskey, made from mash containing at least 80% corn
- malt whiskey, made from mash containig at least 51% malted barley
- rye whiskey, made from mash containing at least 51% rye
- rye malted whiskey, made from mash that consist at least 51% malted rye
- wheat whiskey, made from mash that consist atleast 51% wheat

This types of american whiskies must be distilled to no more the 80% abv. Only
water may be added to the final product, the addition of colouring and flavouring is
prohibited.

Another important labelling in the marketplace is Tennessee whiskey; the main

difference defining this whiskey is the use of Lincoln County Process which
involve filtration of thhe whiskey through maple charcoal chips. Thhye rest of the
process is identical to bourbon whiskey. Only four brands are curently bottled, the
most notorious of them is Jack Daniels, but George Dickel by Diageo as well.
Brands

- rye: Old Overholt and Jim Beam (Beam Suntory), Wild Turkey Rye
(Campari Group), George Dickel Rye (Diageo), Canadian Club Chairmans
Select, Alberta Premium (canadian)
- rye malt: Old Pogue, NA Steamship Rye

Canadian whiskey. By canadian law, canadian whiskey must be produced and

aged in Canada, distilled from a fermented mash of cereal grain, aged in oak
barrels at least three years. The terms of Canadian Whiskey, Rye Whiskey or
Canadian Rye Whiskye are indistinguishable in Canada and do not require specific
grain in their production (rye, for example must contain only a fraction of rye
grain) and are often a blend of two or more grain. May contain caramel and flavour
in addition and there is not maximum limit on the alcohol limit of distillation. Well
known brands are Canadian Club, Crown Royal, Seagrams and Wisers.