These are produced using barley that has been allowed to germinate, this is done by soaking the grain in water and then leaving it in a dark and warm cellar to begin germination; the process is known as malting. The starch in the barley becomes capable of producing the sugars needed for production of whisky.

The process is halted by drying the malted barley over fires (a lot of producers use peat fires to dry the barley), this gives scotch its unique smoky flavour. The dried barley is milled to produce the ‘grist’ (a porridge like mixture) then placed in a mash tun with hot water and then violently stirred to convert the starch into sugar. This resulting liquid is called the wort. The wort is then placed in large steel or wooden vessels and cultured yeast is added, this is when the fermentation occurs. The fermentation lasts about three days turning the wort into a low alcohol wine called the wash.

 
The distillation takes place in a pot still, the wash is firstly distilled to around 30% alcohol and then it is re-distilled in a “spirit still” (a smaller pot still that will concentrate the flavours of the spirit). The distiller will cut the heart of the spirit and will send it to the receiving tank but they will allow a little of the highly flavoured heads into the main distillate as these add to the final flavour of the whisky. The remaining heads and the tails are used in the next distillation.
 

The whisky is then put into ex-sherry or ex- bourbon oak casks and left to mature, in some cases the whisky is put in bourbon and then into sherry casks. Whisky like all other spirits is clear before it is put into the wood. The characteristics of the whisky come from the wood in which it is aged and by the individual flavours of the whisky marrying together. The minimum age for a single malt whisky is 3 years old but many are aged for a lot longer.
 

Some whiskies are aged in other types of oak cask such as ones that have previously held port, Cognac or Madeira. Others are aged first in one type of wood and then in another type.


Before bottling the whisky will be reduced in strength from around 60% to 40% using purified water, in a lot of cases this will turn the whisky cloudy due to the water making some of the compounds in the whisky unstable. Nearly all the whisky makers will then ‘chill filter’ the whisky at around 0°C through fine mesh filters to remove the cloudiness. Some people believe that this will harm the whisky by stripping out some of the flavour.

               

Highland/Speyside - the highland region is made up of four smaller regions each producing distinctive whiskies, they are Speyside, western, eastern and northern highlands. Highland whiskies are generally light bodied but full flavoured.


Lowland - The whiskies from this region are light bodied with a mellow flavour. Lowland malts are generally used for blending with other whiskies.


Campbeltown - Very few whiskies are produced here; the region is situated in the far west of Scotland near the western isles. The whiskies are very full bodied with a strong smoky flavour.
 

Islay - This island lies in the Atlantic ocean and produces the most fully flavoured of all scotch, Isaly malts usually have a faint salty taste due to the wooden casks absorbing the salt from the sea air.


Single malt whiskies contain the whisky from just one distillery although the age of the whisky may vary. In some cases the malt whiskies from different distilleries are blended together, these are called vatted or pure malts.

The age of single malt whiskies is very important, all single malts must be at least 3 years old but most do not reach full maturity until they are 8 to 12 years old. Most whiskies start to react badly with the wooden casks after around 30 years, although, some whiskies can be over 50 years old.
 
 

 

Grain whisky

Traditionally grain whiskies were used only for making blended whiskies, a blended whisky will always contain a percentage of malt whisky and a percentage of grain whisky.  Lately distillers have been producing grain whiskies that are unblended.

In the production of grain whisky the grain (usually corn or wheat) is not malted, unlike barley-based whiskies. The grain is milled and then cooked to burst the starch cells; it is then mixed with cultured yeast, water and a little malted barley and left to ferment. When the fermentation is complete the wash is then fed into a continuous still to produce grain whisky. As with the production of gin or vodka the whisky has a lighter flavour due to the high rectification of the spirit but still carries the characteristics of Scotch whisky. The grain whisky is then left to age for a minimum of 3 years in oak casks.

 
Blended whisky

Blended whiskies are the most commonly drunk and produced whiskies in the world and were the first mass produced whiskies. They are a mixture of malt and grain whiskies usually containing a high percentage of malt whisky but usually more grain, a good blend will contain around 40% malt. The process of blending is the same as Cognac or rum. The blender will take malts from the highlands (for the smooth, smoky flavour), malts from the lowlands (for the softer, sweeter flavour), malts from Islay (for its full bodied strength), malts from Campbeltown (for its spicy flavour) and blend it with a grain whisky to produce a distinctive brand of whisky. Blends will usually contain between 30 and 40 malts backed with grain whisky. As with Cognac the aim is produce a product that is exactly the same as the one before. Some blends state the age of the whisky but as there are more than one the youngest is always displayed on the bottle but this statement is not legally necessary.