The Whisky thread

[bowmore]

Canadian whiskey is made from corn and rye.
Bourbon is mainly corn.
Moonshine can be made from left over grape mash or anything else that can be fermented and distilled.
Rare to see malted barley in whiskey.

This is a photo of the malting floor at Bowmore Distillery. The BARLEY is spread out and allowed to germinate, releasing sugars to be fermented.

 

[marcb]

Some of the distilleries now use common warehouses to germinate the barley, then the flavour is gained from the type of barrels used and how long the whisky is left in the barrel.

 

[grahamg]

Don't they use old sherry barrels to store whiskey in because the remains sherry in the wood, enhances the flavour(?). .

 

[marcb]

I think it depends, I'm sure some used barrels from the US as well as sherry. I remember we went round the Oban distillery and they showed the different grades depending on how long the whisky was stored in the barrel before bottling. We also had a taste of the clear liquid after it came out of the still, wow.

 

[asp3]

Don't they use old sherry barrels to store whiskey in because the remains sherry in the wood, enhances the flavour(?). .

That's definitely done with some Irish whiskeys if I'm remembering the tour we took at Jameson correctly. They had two types of barrels and the very rare whiskey we tried was a blend of the two, one 26 years old and the other 32 years old.

 

[Camper6]

This is a photo of the malting floor at Bowmore Distillery. The BARLEY is spread out and allowed to germinate, releasing sugars to be fermented.

Yes. But only 10% to 20% malting barley is used.
I looked it up. I found it hard to believe that it was 100% malting barley in scotch whiskey

. Scotch grain whisky is usually made from 10-20% malted barley and then other unmalted cereals such as maize or wheat. The starch in the non-malted cereals is released by pre-cooking and converted into fermentable sugars. The mashing and fermentation processes are similar to those used for malt whisky.

How to make Whisky | The Scotch Whisky Experience
www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk › making

Canadian whiskies are most typically blends of whiskies made from a single grain, principally corn and rye, but also sometimes wheat or barley. Mash bills of multiple grains may also be used for some flavouring whiskies.

 

[bowmore]

They are trying different types of barrels to finish the whisky. For Example, Glenmorangie has whiskys aged in sherry, port, and sauterne barrels.
Here is the definition of Single Malt whisky:
A single malt is made with malted barley in pot stills at a single distillery. ... A blended scotch whisky is made by combining several single malts with wheat and/or corn whiskies in column stills.

 

[Capt Lightning]

In addition to my single malts, I keep a bottle of 'The Famous Grouse', for things like Gaelic coffee or if a recipe calls for it.
It is virtually criminal to add anything but a small drop of water to a single malt.

For special occasions, I have Glenfarclas 105 (63% ABV) from a single private cask. Glenfarclas no longer do private casks, so this must be pretty rare.