We know our customers love whisky, and we’re often asked questions about varieties and origins, so here’s a short glossary of whisky terms. At The Grillhouse and Katzy’s, we serve more than 120 whiskys and whisky cocktails.
Whisky
The name is an English corruption of the ancient name for spirits “water of life” – which in Scottish and Irish Gaelic is “uisge beatha” or “usquebaugh” and sounded to the English ear like “uishgi” and hence “whisky”. “Alcohol” incidentally is an Arabic word.
Scotch
means simply that the whisky was distilled and matured in Scotland. Whiskies are made in other countries, notably Ireland and Japan but whiskies they may be, and good ones even, but Scotch they are not. Scotch comes from Scotland.
Malt Whisky
This indicates that the raw material is barley malt, by itself fermented with yeast and distilled in a pot still. This produced a far superior whisky to the common grain whisky found in blends. Note however that just occasionally quality single grain whiskies can be found.
Malt
Malt is essentially barley which has been allowed to germinate by soaking in water then has been dried by the application of heat. The malting process converts the stored starch into soluble compounds such as the sugar maltose and by so doing makes fermentation possible. Drying the malt over a furnace stops the germinating process and lacing the furnace with peat imparts a peaty aroma to the malt.
Grain Whisky
Indicates by contrast that the raw material is unmalted barley, wheat or maize produced as a continuous process in a column still. There are eight grain distilleries in Scotland (an older source lists 15 note)
Single Malt
This indicates that the whisky was made in only one distillery and has not been blended with any other product from elsewhere. It may however contain whisky from several production batches over a period of up to a couple of years. There are rather fewer than 100 working malt whisky distilleries in Scotland with the dominant concentration in the Spey valley in north-east Scotland around Elgin. A smaller group of particularly characterful malt distilleries exists on the western island of Islay and there used to be a third group centred round Campbeltown. About 120 single malts can be identified including the bottled product of now-defunct distilleries.
Vatted Malt
Such a malt is a blend of single malts. This produces a product which is more consistent and can be “tuned” to bring out a particular character. Such whiskies may be less demanding and can form a convenient introduction to the rich and varied world of true single malts. Lovers of malts will argue that it is precisely this inconsistency that gives malt whiskies their charm.
Blended Scotch
Such a whisky contains a variable proportion of blended malt and grain whiskies, commonly about 40% malt:60% grain. A good quality blend may contain more than 40% malt, a cheap one much less. Many malts may be incorporated in the blend to provide bulk then fine elements of the final taste (“top dressing”).
Age Statement
This gives the age of the youngest component of the whisky. Note that maturation stops at bottling so both the year and the age may be significant. A 12-year-old whisky bottled 4 years ago is still a 12-year-old, not a 16-year-old though different years may occasionally be quoted.
Proof
Originally meaning “of tried strength or quality”, this acquired new meaning with the invention of the hydrometer – a floating instrument used to determine the specific gravity of a fluid – in this case an alcohol/water mixture. The definitions were progressively firmed up via published tables but for purposes of argument, British “proof spirit” contains 57.1% alcohol by volume or 49.28% alcohol by weight at 51 deg F. American proof spirit by contrast contains 50% alcohol by volume at 60 deg F. 100 deg proof British spirit therefore corresponds to 114.2 def proof in the USA, similarly American 100 deg proof spirit is 87.7 deg proof British. On this scale incidentally pure alcohol rates 175 deg proof (British).
Cask Strength
Newly distilled malt whisky is generally 115-120 deg proof as it comes off the still. It is generally watered down and bottled at 70 deg proof for the domestic British market. It has long been noted however that whisky bottled at full strength and diluted in the glass tastes superior to the same whisky diluted at bottling. This has never been adequately explained but has in recent years led to the availability of “cask strength” malt whiskies bottled at typically 100-110 deg proof (57-63% alcohol by volume). These may be drunk cautiously at their full strength but more commonly diluted with a small splash of water.
