WhiskyDC Celebrating the Spirits of Scotland

A bit more complex than changing water into wine, transforming lumpy barley porridge into fine single malt whisky is at least within our mortal hands. And many use the result to reach their own private heaven! Even with modern techniques available, today's malt whisky distillers still continue to use a basic process which has spanned generations.

1) Malting: Barley to steeps to malted barley

Good Scottish barley is soaked in fresh local water for two to four days to become barley steeps. For twelve days or more, the steeped barley is then spread on a malting floor, turned daily either by hand in the traditional way or by machine. This allows the steeped barley to sprout, a process which releases some of its sugars. At the appropriate time, this germination is stopped by drying the barley a malt kiln over a peat or coal furnace. Most distilleries use peat, a ready source of fuel. Traditional malt kilns have a distinctive pagoda-style roof. Most distilleries acquire barley already malted, although some (including Laphroaig, Bowmore, Springbank, and Highland Park) malt their own barley.

2) Mashing: Malted barley to Grist to Wort

The dried malted barley is ground to grist in a malt mill. In a large vat or mash tun, the grist is mixed with hot water. This dissolves the sugar and produces wort, a sweet non-alcoholic liquid. This process is repeated to ensure that all the sugars have been collected. The solid remains of the barley are removed at this point and used as cattle feed.

3) Fermentation: Wort to Wash

The wort is cooled to about 70o C (168o F) and transferred to covered vats, or washbacks, where yeast is added and the process of fermentation begins. The yeast creates a chemical reaction which converts the sugars in the wort to alcohol. The process also releases carbon dioxide and a great deal of foam. This takes about two days and results in wash, a warm peaty beer with an alcoholic content of about 7.5%.

4) Distillation: Wash to Low Wines to Spirits to Main Run

The wash is then heated in a wash still, traditionally made of copper. Since alcohol has a lower boiling temperature than water, the alcoholic steam rises up the still through its long spout to the worm, a condensing coil running through cold water. Each whisky distillery has a distinctively-shaped still which affects the final taste and body of the whisky produced. The distillate, now called low wines, is passed into the second still, the spirit still, where the process is repeated, with the liquid running off- into the glass-fronted spirit safe.

Some distilleries, such as Auchentoshan and the Irish Bushmills produce a lighter whisky through a third distillation. The "foreshots" or first distillate condensed from spirit still are passed back to the still. The skill of the stillman comes into play to determine when to pass on the "main run" of the distillation process to the maturation process -- and when to cut off the "main run" at the first moment of the "feints," or last of the distillate to be condensed. This judgment call is made more difficult because the distiller cannot smell or taste the liquid. The stillman uses a series of faucets and glass bowls to direct the condensing spirit. Foreshots contain impurities and turn cloudy when in contact with water. Therefore, the stillman tests the spirit by adding water at regular intervals and measures the specific gravity.

5) Maturation: Main Run to Uisge Beatha to Heaven

The main run is stored in a vat and mixed with water to bring it down in strength. The immature whisky is then casked and allowed to mature for an average of eight to fifteen years. The type of barrels used in the maturation process contribute greatly to the final color, flavor, and character of the whisky. The casks are occasionally tapped to ensure that the barrel is intact. The whisky is bottled after the appropriate age -- and only after the distillery "noser" approves it. The highly skilled noser will draw off a sample, carefully smell ("nose") the whisky, and swirl it around in a glass to inspect the viscosity or "body." Then the uisga beatha is off to be bottled -- and to be savored by whisky lovers around the world. Heaven!