MALT WHISKY
Any reference to malt whisky used to mean malts from Scotland but the growing number of countries producing malts has made it necessary to add a prefix, with the aim of differentiating Scottish malt whisky from Swiss malt whiskies, Swedish malt whiskies and all the many others.
The stages of the distillation of malt whisky are:
Crushing the malted barley, cooked by adding hot water
Fermenting the resulting sugary liquid, calles wort, by adding yeast because it converts the sugars into alcohol and creates various flavour compounds
This liquid, referred to as the wash, has an alcoholic strength of around 8% ABV and is distilled twice in pot stills.
The first distillation rises the strength to around 25% ABV.
During the second distillation, the profile of the spirit continually evolves. This allows the master distiller to collect the “spirit cut” containing the desired range of characteristics and results in a new-make spirit that is usually around 70% ABV.
The spirit is diluted with water typically to achieve a strength of 63.5% ABV, to be filled into oak casks for a minimum of 3 years’ ageing.
Each step of the production process of malt whisky involves choices that influence the character of the resulting malt whisky.
Malt whisky distilleries can be described as all doing the same thing but differently, and so creating a range of malt whiskies that each have an individual personality.
Malted barley is a prerequisite for producing malt whisky to gain characteristics such as biscuity, malty notes.
Malting is a vital process that equips barley to play an active role once it reaches a distillery.
The first stage of malting is steeping, when barley is dipped in water. This requires germination, which takes place over four to five days and transforms the barley.
Each barley grain contains numerous packets of starch, which are enclosed by cell walls. When germination begins, these walls start breaking down, allowing the barley to access the starch.
Source: The Whisky Dictionary: an A-Z of Whisky, from history & heritage to-distilling & drinking
