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This is the third article in a small series
on Scotch Whisky- its origins, its production and some of its
mysteries. |
by David Rice
Grain Whisky
Grain whisky is made from some malted barley mixed with
unmalted barley and maize. The production is carried out in a continuous
process in a patent or coffey still. The whisky produced is less distinctive
in taste, lighter in quality and is usually referred to as a neutral spirit.
It was the introduction of the English Malt Tax in 1713
that saw the increase in proportion of grain whisky so that the legal
distillers could keep the malt tax to a minimum. This also led to the
establishment of the illicit still. The whiskies produced by the illicit
stills were far superior to that produced by the legal distilleries. It was
the highlands with its remote glens and hillsides that became the centre of
illicit distilling. Many stories are told of evasion of the excisemen.
Very few grain whiskies are sold on their own. The
majority of grain whisky produced is for blending. Much of the whisky
produced in Scotland is not made with malted barley in pot stills but almost
entirely from maize in huge factory complexes. The production of malt in the
traditional way is a small proportion of what is produced annually.
Main Types of Whisky
There are four main types of whisky:
The Standard Blend. This is a blend of as many as
50 individual malts and grain whiskies. The whiskies that usually make up
the standard blend are matured for about 5 years, though there are some that
are matured for eight and even twelve years.
Some popular brands are: Johnnie Walker Red Label, Famous
Grouse, Dewar’s White Label, Cutty Sark, Bell’s Extra Special and Vat 69.
The De Luxe Blend. This is still a blend of grain
and malt whiskies but the deluxe blend has a higher proportion of malt
and/or older whiskies. They are usually more expensive.
The more popular brands are: Chivas Regal, Johnnie
Walker Black Label, Old Parr and Dimple.
The Single Malt. This is the product of a single
distillery and produced by the pot still method using fully malted barley. A
single malt can range from about five years upwards in age. The older the
more expensive.
Popular brands include Glenffiddich, The Glenlivet, The
Macallan and Laphroaig.
The Vatted Malt. This is a combination of several
different malts or a mixture of different ages of the same malt. The vatted
malt was the forerunner of the blend. They are fairly rare now.
Some are the Strath-connen, Mar Lodge and The Pride of
Strathspey.
Single Malt Producing Regions
Like wine production whiskies are grouped in production
areas. These have been traditionally Islay, an island off the west
coast, Cambeltown, on the Kintyre Penninsula, The Lowlands and
the Highlands.
Islay malts are considered to be amongst the heaviest.
Its single malts are noted for their seaweedy, iodine-like, phenolic
character. Deep with peat, lashed by the wind, rain and sea, Islay is the
greatest of all Scotland’s whisky producing islands. A portion of Islay malt
gives an unmistakable tang of Scotland to many blended whiskies. The more
well known brands are Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Bruichladdich.
Cambeltown single malts are very distinctive, with a
briny or salty-sweet character. Although there are now only three of them,
they are distinctive enough to warrant a region in their own right. The
three are Glen Scotia, Longrow and Springbank.
The Lowlands tend to produce whiskies in which the
softness of the malt itself is more evident, untempered by the highland
peatiness or coastal brine and seaweed. The whiskies produced are a good
stepping stone into the wider world of malt whiskies for the drinker who
wants to graduate from blends due to their being soft, light and sweet. Much
of the Lowland malts are used in blends. Only four of them are bottled
unblended. They are Auchentoshan, Bladnock, Littlemill and Rosebank.
Finally, the largest region, with more distilleries than
the rest of the country combined, is Highland. The heart of Highland
distilling is centred round the river Spey as it flows north-east from
Grantown to the Moray Firth. It’s a river noted for its salmon. The whisky
towns of Elgin, Rothes and Dufftown are surrounded by distilleries, old and
new. Here in this golden rectangle the really great malts are made: The
Glenlivet, Glen Grant, Glenfiddich, Mortlach, Tamnavulin, Linkwood,
Longmorn, Macallan, Glenfarclas, Aberlour, Cardhu, Knockando and Balmeanach.
Although Spey-side has the greatest concentration of distilleries in the
world there are well known names scattered all over the map, Glenmorangie,
Fetter-cairn, Glenturret, Glenlochy and Ben Nevis.
Although each of the 115 malt distilleries has its
mashing tuns, washbacks, wash and spirit stills and warehouses, in size they
range from the minute to the mighty. The smallest distillery in Scotland is
Edradour which was built in 1835 near Pitlochry. South of Inverness
is the largest malt distillery in the world, Tomatin, whose eleven
stills can produce more than 5 million gallons a year. A sub-group of the
highland region is that of the Island malts. These are from Jura, (Isle
of Jura), Mull (Tobermory) and Skye (Talisker) in
the west and Orkney in the north. Highland Park is the most northern
of the distilleries in Scotland.
So when you pour some of the amber nectar into a glass
containing a mountain of ice and attempt to add a variety of mixers, think
about the stillman and the expertise that has gone into the production of
the liquor, the minimum of the three years that it has rested in the barrel
and the expertise of the blender blending up to fifty different whiskies
together to ensure consistency of quality and the uniqueness that is SCOTCH.
SLAINTE MHATH!
Addendum to last week’s
whisky feature:
n: Still Charger; o: Still no.1; p: Furnace; q: Condenser; r: Low Wine
Receiver;
s: Still Charger; t: Still no.2; u: Furnace; v: Condenser; w: Safe;
x: Spirit Receiver; y: Whisky Vat; z: Barrels.
