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Scotch
Did you ever wonder how Scotch is made? As a single malt fan, I did wonder many years ago and after a wonderful trip to Scotland, I came away with a new appreciation of the distiller’s craft.
Producing Single Malt Scotch Scotch (called merely whisky in Scotland) starts with barley, a major Scottish crop, but one which now must be imported to meet the demand for whisky. Barley is soaked in water, drained, and allowed to germinate in a process called malting. Malting starts to convert the starch in the barley to a sugar called maltose. During malting, the barley is turned, usually mechanically, but by hand previously.
At the end of the germination process, the malt is kilned over a peat fire to stop germination. This also imparts the smoky flavor for which single malt Scotch is renowned. After drying, the malt is trimmed of roots and coarsely milled.
Very few distilleries malt their own barley any longer, preferring instead to purchase it from a specialized company who will malt to their specifications.
The milled malt is then mashed—washed with several changes of water to collect the soluble sugars. These collected washings are called the wort. The wort is inoculated with yeast and allowed to ferment. The maltose is converted to dextrose and the dextrose to alcohol.
In a gross oversimplification of a very complex process, the wash is distilled in a pot still and the resulting alcohol distilled again in a second pot still, the aim being to yield alcohol with few impurities. The irony of the process—as well as the distiller’s art—is that it is the remaining impurities in the whisky that give it its distinct character in large measure.
The whisky is then aged in wooden barrels a minimum of three years by law. Most single malts will be aged at least 8 years. With age, the rawness of the alcohol mellows and it picks up flavors from the wood, often used sherry or port casks. Some feel that more age is better. Except in a few cases, I think that 12 years is plenty of time in cask and that more age is not necessarily better. This is of course personal preference.
Areas of Production You will see on our menu at One Block West a geographical designation for each whisky. The four traditional areas of production are Highland, Lowland, Islay, and Campbeltown. Highland generally means the highlands in the north of the country, especially around the rivers Spey and Glenlivet. Lowland generally refers to the area around Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the Firth of Stirling. Islay (pronounced Isle-uh) comprises the western islands of Islay and Jura, and sometimes Skye. Sometimes Jura is lumped with the western highlands. Campbeltown refers to the town of the same name on the Kintyre peninsula south and east of Islay.
Historically, there were great rivalries between the areas, especially the highlands and the lowlands. Highland malts were known for the depth and complexity, while Lowland malts were considerably lighter and made from unpeated malt. Islay malts have always been known for their heavy peat and smoke flavors, sometimes with considerable iodine flavor from seaweed. Campbeltown malts were somewhere in between Islay and Highland malts, with a bit of a salty tang.
Today, as far as malts are concerned, the regional differences are blurred. All but two of the Campbeltown distillers are gone and only a few Lowland malts are produced as well.
Whiskies at One Block West It is difficult to come by whisky in the great Commonwealth of Virginia, although it is much easier now than 10 years ago. Many whiskies are in short supply and our supplier, the Virginia ABC, exacerbates this shortage by allocating rare whiskies to their top market stores. Winchester cannot compete in terms of sales with the large urban sections of the state such as Fairfax, Richmond, and the Tidewater, hence allocations to us are few and far between.
Our whisky list is changing all the time. As bottles are consumed, we replenish them with the most interesting bottles to be found at our local store.
Enjoying Whisky How you enjoy your whisky is up to you, but I prefer mine neat, with the tiniest splash of water, in a rocks glass. I find that ice numbs my palate. Your mileage may vary.
See Also Rick Wasmund is making a single malt from Virginia barley in Sperryville, Virginia called Wasmund’s Single Malt. |
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