American Whiskey: What Makes It Stand Out

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One Of The Finest Whiskies

American Whiskey has the hallmark of vanilla sweetness, spice, and a crisp flavor. While bourbon is one of the most popular types of American Whiskey, rye, Tennessee, and corn are some of the other types of American Whiskey. With the many micro distilleries which have come up from California to New York and everywhere in between. People around the world are getting acquainted to American Whiskey and its intoxicating flavors.

Types of American Whiskey

Bourbon

Bourbon is exclusive to the country and is produced primarily in Kentucky. It is made of a minimum of 51% corn. It is aged in new, charred, white-oak barrels that gives the whiskey its sweet flavor.

Corn

This type of whiskey contains 80% of corn in the mash bill, which is the recipe. Corn whiskey is aged for a short time in uncharred, oak barrels.

Rye

Rye has a bitter and peppery taste and is fuller-bodied than other bourbons. It uses at least 51% rye and is aged in new, charred-oak barrels. The availability of rye makes it easy to use in the mash bill to create some of the best American whiskies.

Tennessee

Tennessee whiskey adds the Lincoln County Process to bourbon. The process requires the whiskey to be filtered slowly through ten feet of sugar-maple charcoal. The whiskey gets a smooth and sweet finish which reflects the taste of Tennessee whiskey. The world famous Jack Daniels owes its exotic flavors to this type of whiskey.

Wheat

Using 51% wheat, this whiskey is slightly softer than rye and bourbon. It is aged in new, charred white-oak barrels and has a smooth and sweet flavor to it.

White Dog

Commonly known as moonshine or white whiskey, White Dog is unaged whiskey, which is bottled right after distillation. Usually water is added to reduce the strength of the whiskey.

Others

Innovation leads to the creation of many flavor infusions. Other American whiskeys may result out of a blend of American Whiskeys and small changes in the process of creating whiskey.

History

American whiskey traces its origin to the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was produced mainly as a rye based liquor during the 18^th century. The availability of corn in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee favored the production of whiskey in these states by Irish pioneers.

By the 19^th century, whiskey had become popular throughout the country. The whiskey trade at its peak saw many unscrupulous traders trying to sell non-whiskey drinks in whiskey bottles. Sealed and labelled bottles became the only way to stop illegal trade.

The practice of sealed bottles was started by George Barvin Brown who sold whiskey to physicians and medical practitioners who used it to cure certain maladies. The practice of sealing bottles gradually became commercialized.

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Between 1922 and 1933, America saw the prohibition of whiskey as a result of abuse of alcohol. The supporters of the prohibition found the drink to be the reason behind many anti-social activities. During this period, six companies had the license to sell medicinal whiskey. Patients with a prescription could go to a pharmacy and buy bottled whiskey for medicinal purposes. The failures of the prohibition started becoming very clear and the prohibition was lifted in 1933.

Bourbon became one of the most popular American whiskeys and the US congress acknowledged it as ‘a distinct product of the USA’. Specific standards were set for bourbon to ensure the distinct flavor of the whiskey was not lost. Over these centuries, American whiskey has created a niche for itself in the world with its rich history.

Mash bill

The ingredients that are used in American whiskey vary on the type of whiskey that is being created. Corn, rye and wheat are some of the common ingredients. Most of the distilleries try to keep the recipe a secret. The process and ingredients give each type of whiskey its flavor.

What Makes American Whiskey Stand Out?

American whiskey is usually characterized by a sweeter and smoother taste. American whiskey is produced under strict standards to avoid adulteration. The regulations set for creating authentic American whiskey have ensured the whiskey retains its quality over years.

Conclusion

American whiskey has gained popularity because of the authenticity of the whiskey created in America. The potent flavors are considered to be one of the best. Bourbon still remains the most common type of American whiskey but micro distilleries are crafting whiskies of various blends which offer a great new taste to the usual whiskey.

Scotch: Why It Tastes So Damn Good

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Scotch is a type of whisky that is made in Scotland and uniquely stands out from other types of whisky. There are currently two different kinds of Scotch whisky available:

• Malt Whisky
• Grain Whisky

Malt Whisky

This type of whisky is made using the Pot Still Process. The process can occur in four distinct stages:

1. Malting.
2. Mashing.

• Fermentation then:

1. Distillation.
2. Malting.

Malting 

• During this stage the barley is screened to remove any foreign matter.
• Soak for 2 or 3 days in steeps. Steeps are special water tanks.
• Spread it out on a malting floor and allow germinating. The process of Germination can take from 8 to 12 days. Turn out the barley regularly at intervals to control temperature and germination rate. The barley secretes the enzyme diastase during germination that makes the starch soluble in preparation for conversion into sugar.
• Stop germination by drying the malted barley or green malt in the malt kiln.

Mashing

• This stage involves grinding of the dried malt in a mill.
• The ground malt produces grist then mixed with hot water.
• The soluble starch is then converted into a sugary liquid known as wort. The wort is then removed from the mash tun. The remaining solids are removed for use as cattle food.

Fermentation Process

• This process begins with cooling of wort and passage into large vessels of liquid for fermentation by the addition of yeast.
• The sugar in the wort is attacked by live yeast and it is converted into crude alcohol.
• This whole stage of fermentation takes about 48 hours to produce a liquid known as wash. Wash contains;
  • Alcohol of low strength.
  • Some unfermented matter.
  • Certain by-products of fermentation.

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Distillation

Distillation of Malt Whisky is done twice in large copper Pot Stills.

• The liquid wash is heated to a boiling point for the alcohol to change to vapor.
• The vapor rises in the still and is passed into the cooling plant. In the cooling plant, it is condensed into a liquid.
• The purpose of first distillation is the separation of the alcohol from the fermented liquid and elimination of the residue from the yeast together with the unfermented liquids.
• The distillate produced is known as low wines. The low wines then pass into another still where it is distilled a second time. In this second distillation first and the last runnings are not collected. In spirit bottles. Only middle runnings are collected.

Pot Still distillation is a batch process.

Image credit: “Glenmorangie Distillery Stills” by Jack Shainsky

Grain Whisky

This whisky is made by a process known as the Patent Still process. The process is continuous in operation and differs from the Malt Whisky Pot Still process in four other ways:

1. The mash in this process consists of a proportion of both malted barley together with cereals that are unmalted.
2. Unmalted cereals used in this process are cooked under steam pressure for three and a half hours while the mixture of grain and water is being agitated by stirrers located inside the cooker.
3. The grain starch cells burst and upon transfer of this liquid to the mash tun together with the malted barley, the diastase present converts the starch into sugar.
4. Unlike Pot Still process, the wort collection is done at a lower specific gravity.
5. Distillation occurs in a Patent or Coffey Still and the spirit collection are done at a much higher rate.

Maturation

The maturation of both types of whisky occurs after distillation is completed. Casks of oak wood that are permeable are filled with the new spirit. They allow air to pass and evaporation to take place. The process allows removal of harsh constituents and in due course becomes Mellow Whisky. Malt Whisky takes a longer time, up to 15 years, to mature because it contains more flavory constituents compared to Grain Whisky.

Other factors that affect both Malt and Grain Whisky maturation include:

• The size of used casks.
• The temperature and humidity of the warehouse.
• The strength of storage of the spirit.

Blending

The different whiskies are blended together after maturation. The addition of soft water creates a reduction of the blend to the required strength. The color of the whiskies at this stage, before blending, depends upon the casks used in the previous stage.

Packaging

This marks the final stage in the process of production of Scotch whisky before dispatch. Scotch Whiskey for exportation is packaged in glass tanks lined with stainless steel or casks of varying size. The packaging, in this case, depends on the size of the market. Bottling is then done overseas by the agents or distributors.

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American Whiskey

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One of the Finest Whiskies

American Whiskey has the hallmark of vanilla sweetness, spice and a crisp flavor to it. While bourbon is one of the most popular types of American Whiskey, rye, Tennessee and corn are some of the other types of American Whiskey. With the many micro distilleries which have come up from California to New York and everywhere in between. People around the world are getting acquainted to American Whiskey and its intoxicating flavors.

Types of American Whiskey

Bourbon

Bourbon is exclusive to the country and is produced primarily in Kentucky. It is made of a minimum of 51% corn. It is aged in new charred white-oak barrels that render the whiskey its sweet flavor.

Corn

This type of whiskey contains 80% of corn in the mash bill, which is the recipe. Corn whiskey is aged for a short time in uncharred oak barrels.

Rye

Rye has a bitter and peppery taste and is fuller-bodied than bourbons. It uses at least 51% rye and is aged in new charred-oak barrels. The availability of rye made it easy to use this as an ingredient in the mash bill to create some of the best American whiskies.

Tennessee

Tennessee whiskey adds the Lincoln County Process to bourbon. The process requires the whiskey to be filtered slowly through ten feet of sugar-maple charcoal. The whiskey gets a smooth and sweet finish which reflects the taste of Tennessee whiskey. The world famous Jack Daniels owes its exotic flavors to this type of whiskey.

Wheat

Using 51% wheat, this whiskey is slightly softer than rye and bourbon. It is aged in new, charred white-oak barrels and has a smooth and sweet flavor to it.

White Dog

Commonly known as moonshine or white whiskey, the white Dog is unaged whiskey which is bottled right after distillation. Usually water is added to reduce the strength of the whiskey.

Others

Innovation leads to the creation of many flavor infusions. Other American whiskeys may result out of a blend of American Whiskeys and small changes in the process of creating whiskey.

History

American whiskey traces its origin to the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was produced mainly as a rye based liquor during the 18^th century. The availability of corn in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee favored the production of whiskey in these states by Irish pioneers.

By the 19^th century, whiskey had become popular throughout the country. The whiskey trade at its peak saw many unscrupulous traders trying to sell non-whiskey drinks in whiskey bottles. Sealed and labelled bottles became the only way to stop illegal trade.

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The Process of Making Scotch

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Scotch is a type of whisky that is made in Scotland and uniquely stands out from other types of whisky. There are currently two different kinds of Scotch whisky available:

Malt Whisky
Grain Whisky
adult beverages photo

Malt Whisky

This type of whisky is made using the Pot Still process. The process can occur in four distinct stages;

Malting
Mashing
Fermentation and
Distillation.
Malting
During this stage, the following are the steps followed;

Screen the barley to remove any foreign matter
Soak for either 2 or 3 days in steeps. Steeps are special water tanks.
Spread it out on a malting floor and allow germinating. The process of Germination can take from 8 to 12 days. Turn out the barley regularly at intervals to control temperature and germination rate. The barley secretes the enzyme diastase during germination that makes the starch soluble in preparation for conversion into sugar.
Stop germination by drying the malted barley or green malt in the malt kiln.

Mashing

This stage involves grinding off the dried malt in a mill.
The ground malt produces grist then mixed with hot water.
The soluble starch is then converted into a sugary liquid known as wort. The wort is then removed from the mash tun. The remaining solids are removed for use as cattle food.
Fermentation Process
This process begins with cooling of wort and passage into large vessels of liquid for fermentation by the addition of yeast.
The sugar in the wort is attacked by live yeast and it is converted into crude alcohol.
This whole stage of fermentation takes about 48 hours to produce a liquid known as wash. Wash contains;
Alcohol of low strength
some unfermentable matter and
Certain by-products of fermentation.

Distillation

Distillation of Malt Whisky is done twice in large copper Pot Stills.

The liquid wash is heated to a boiling point for the alcohol to change to vapour.
The vapour rises the still and is passed into the cooling plant. In the cooling plant, it is condensed into a liquid
The purpose of first distillation is the separation of the alcohol from the fermented liquid and elimination of the residue of the yeast together with the unfermentable
The distillate produced is known as low wines. The low wines then pass into another still where it is distilled a second time. In this second distillation first and the last runnings are not collected. In spirit bottles. Only middle runnings are collected.
Pot Still distillation is a batch process.

Grain Whisky

This whisky is made by a process known as the Patent Still process. The process is continuous in operation and differs from the Malt Whisky Pot Still process in four other ways;

The mash in this process consists of a proportion of both malted barley together with cereals that are unmalted.
Unmalted cereals used in this process are cooked under steam pressure for three and a half hours while the mixture of grain and water is being agitated by stirrers located inside the cooker.
The grain starch cells burst and upon transfer of this liquid to the mash tun together with the malted barley, the diastase present converts the starch into sugar.
Unlike Pot Still process, the wort collection is done at specific gravity that is lower.
Distillation occurs in a Patent or Coffey Still and the spirit collection done at a much higher


Maturation

The maturation of both types of whisky occurs after distillation is completed. Casks of oak wood that are permeable are filled with the new spirit. They allow air to pass and evaporation to take place. The process allows removal of harsh constituents and in due course becomes Mellow Whisky. Malt Whisky takes long, up to 15 years, to mature because it contains more flavoury constituents compared to Grain Whisky.

Other factors that affect both Malt and Grain Whisky maturation include;

The size of used casks.
The temperature and humidity of the warehouse
The strength of storage of the spirit.

Blending

The different whiskies are blended together after maturation. The addition of soft water does a reduction of the blend to the required strength. The colour of the whiskies at this stage before blending depends with the casks used in the previous stage.

Packaging

This marks the final stage in the process of production of Scotch whisky before dispatch. Scotch Whiskey for exportation is packaged in glass tanks lined with stainless steel or casks of varying size. The packaging, in this case, depends on the size of the market. Bottling is then done overseas by the agents or distributors.

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