The History of Scotch Whiskey

Today as my blog I am going to write about the history of scotch whiskey.

What is whiskey?

Whiskey is an alcoholic beverage made out of distilled grains barley, rye, corn, or wheat but usually barley or rye.

How is scotch whiskey different to any other whiskey?

For scotch to be scotch it has to be one hundred percent made in Scotland, contain a particular amount of barley, be aged for at least three years or more and have an ABV lower than 94.8%.

How is it made?

Whiskey is made by collecting the grain and letting it soak in water and germinate. It is then left on the floor of a level of the distillery called the malting floor and to help the grain to germinate. It is then rotated by a rake to spread the heat evenly. The grain (now called green malt) is evenly spread on a mesh and completely killed by the fire and heat below, it if you add peat to the fire it will change the flavour of the whiskey. It is then ground up to a fine flour were it is put in the mash tun with hot water. It is then drained and added to hotter water, drained, and added to hot water again. It is then put in what is called a washback and yeast is added and turns the substance into alcohol. It then starts bubbling which is helped by spinning blades above. This process takes about 48 to 60 hours. The distilling progress can now start and as it does the alcohol is poured into  copper container like thing called the wash still were it is heated. As alcoholic vapours rise they go through different copper tubing were they cool and turn back to liquid again. This process is then repeated in a different copper pot called the spirit still where the distilling separates the alcohol from the majority of the flavoured water substances and concentrates them.  The whiskey is now pumped into to spirit receiver then the spirit vat. Water can now be added into the whiskey as it it is added into the barrels before being stored. As it distills it gives the whiskey about 80% of its flavour and the longer it distills the better.    

What is the difference between a single malt and a blended whiskey?

A lot of people think that a single malt is the product of one cask of whiskey this is not true most single malts you see are a blend but the whiskeys they put into it are always from the same distillery whereas a blended whiskey is made up of whiskeys from different distilleries.

What effects the flavour of the whiskey?

The thing that always affects the flavour of the whiskey is the type of wood the cask holding the whiskey is made out of. W§ether its oak or birch or lime each one will make the whiskey taste different.

What is the angels share?

The angels share is the part of the whiskey that evaporates through the cask when it is being distilled it then goes to 'the heavens' and that's why its the angels share.

how much was the most expensive bottle of whiskey sold for?

The most expensive scotch ever sold was sold for $631,850 for a single bottle of Macallan M that was 70 years old.