Single malt Scotch
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Single malt Scotch is a type of Scotch whisky, distilled by a single distillery, using malted barley as the only grain ingredient.
This is in contrast to a blended Scotch whisky which consists of a mixture of single malt Scotch whiskies and Scottish grain whisky(ies) created from corn (maize), wheat, and/or unmalted barley.
A blend that uses only single malt whiskies is known as a "blended malt", "pure malt", or "vatted malt".
Single malt Scotch is traditionally distilled using a pot still, and must be distilled and matured in Scotland.
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[edit] Production
All single malt Scotch goes through a similar batch production process, as outlined below. At bottling time various batches are mixed together or vatted to achieve consistent flavours from one bottling run to the next. Even still, some variation does occur.
[edit] Water
Water is used in all phases of the production of whisky. The contribution that the water adds to the final product is not fully understood.
Most new-make malt whisky is diluted to about 63.5% before it is placed in casks to mature. These days, many distilleries are using distilled water for diluting whisky before it is casked in the casks as well as for diluting the whisky after maturation to bottling strength (i.e., 40 - 46% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)). Others, like Jura or Bruichladdich use water from local burns or springs to dilute new-make before it is casked. Much new-make whisky is shipped in tanker trucks to central warehouses where local tap water is used to dilute it before casking, and again at bottling time.
Since huge amounts of water are used during the process of whisky production, water supplies are a key factor for the location of any distillery.
[edit] Malting
Barley, yeast and water are the only ingredients required in the production of single malt Scotch. The barley used to make the whisky is "malted" by soaking the grain in water for 2-3 days and then allowing it to begin to germinate for three to five days.
Malting is used to convert starch, (which is insoluble in water and not available for fermentation by yeast) to fermentable sugars. In order to halt the germination process, the germination is stopped (through heating) when the optimum enzyme levels have been reached but before much of the sugar has been used for the growing plant.
Traditionally each distillery had its own malting floor where this was done, but now most of the distilleries use commercial "maltsters" who prepare each distillery's malt to exact specifications.
The method for drying the germinating barley is by heating it with hot air, which usually, but not always includes some peat smoke. Peat may be added to the fire in varying amounts which can add a smoky aroma and flavour to the whisky. The smoky flavour comes from phenols that are released by the peat and adsorbed onto the malt.
Some of the more intense, smoky malts from Islay have phenol levels between 25 and 50 parts per million (ppm), whereas more subtle malts can have phenol levels of around 2–3 ppm.
[edit] Mashing
The next step is Mashing wherein the malt is milled into a coarse flour called "grist", this helps more of the sugar to be extracted during mashing process.
The grist is combined with hot water in a stainless steel basin called a mash tun, which helps dissolves the sugar and diastase in the grist. The enzymes then act on the remaining starch, converting more and more of it to maltose, which is dissolved into the water. Typically, each batch of grist is mashed three times or so to extract all the fermentable sugars. The resulting sugary liquid is called wort.
[edit] Fermentation
Yeast is combined with the wort in a large vessel (often tens of thousands of litres) called a washback. Washbacks are commonly made of Oregon Pine or stainless steel. The yeast consumes the maltose and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. Fermentation can take up to three days to complete. When complete, the liquid has an alcohol content of 5 to 7 % by volume, and is now known as wash. It is very similar to a rudimentary beer.
[edit] Distillation
The wash is then pumped into a copper pot still, known as the wash still, to be distilled. The wash is heated, boiling off the alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water; the vapor is collected in a condenser which has been submerged in cool water. The lower temperatures cause the vapor to condense back into a liquid form.
This spirit, known as low wine has an alcohol content of about 20 to 40 %. The low wines are then pumped into a second pot still, known as the spirit still, and distilled a second, (and in the case of Auchentoshan and Irish whisky, a third) time. The final spirit called "new make spirit" generally has an alcohol content of 60 to 80 %.
Much of the body, or mouth feel, of the final whisky is believed to come from the size and shape of the stills used in its production. When a still wears out and has to be replaced, or when a distillery decides to expand the number of stills it operates, precise measurements of the existing stills are taken to ensure the new stills are reproduced exactly like the old. There are stories of master distillers having dents placed in brand new stills so that they matched those in the old still, and one distiller refuses to allow the cobwebs to be cleaned off his stills for fear of altering the whisky.
[edit] Maturation
The "new-make spirit", or unaged whisky, is then placed in oak casks to mature. By law, all Scotch whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years in oak casks; though the vast majority of single malts are matured for much longer. The whisky continues to develop and change as it spends time in the wood, and maturation periods of twenty years or more are not uncommon. Each year spent in the wood reduces the alcohol content of the whisky, as the alcohol evaporates through the porous oak; the lost alcohol is known as the angel's share.
The selection of casks has a profound effect on the character of the final whisky. Single malt Scotch is too delicate to be aged in new oak casks, as new oak would overpower the whisky with tannin and vanillin, making it overly astringent. Thus used casks are needed. The most common source of casks is American whiskey producers, as U.S. laws require that bourbon and Tennessee whiskey be aged in new oak casks. Bourbon casks impart a characteristic vanilla flavour to the whisky. An important minority of whisky maturation occurs in sherry casks. This practice arose because sherry used to be shipped to Britain from Spain in the cask rather than having been bottled, and the casks were expensive to return empty and were unwanted by the sherry cellars. Sherry casks are more expensive than bourbon casks, and account for only seven percent of all casks imported for whisky maturation. In addition to imparting the flavours of their former contents, sherry casks lend maturing spirit a heavier body and a deep amber colour. For this reason, single malt Scotches that have been matured in sherry casks are especially prized by blenders, as they give a blend a roundness and richness. Stainless steel shipping containers, however, have reduced the supply of wooden sherry casks, to the extent that the Macallan Distillery builds casks and leases them to the sherry cellars in Spain for a time, then has them shipped back to Scotland. Other casks used include those that formerly held port wine and madeira, while experiments with used rum and cognac casks are being performed.
[edit] Bottling
To be called a single malt, a bottle may only contain single malt whisky distilled at a single distillery. If the bottle is the product of single malt whiskies produced at more than one distillery, the whisky is called a vatted malt, or a blended malt. If the single malt is mixed with grain whisky, the result is a blended Scotch whisky. Single malts can be bottled by the distillery that produced them or by an Independent Bottler.
The age statement on a bottle of single malt Scotch is the age of the youngest malt included, as commonly the whiskies of several years are mixed together to create a more consistent house style. On occasion the product of a single cask of whisky is bottled and released as a "Single Cask." It should also be noted that for whisky, unlike wine, the maturation process does not continue in the bottle.
For a distillery bottling, the whisky to be bottled is generally taken from several casks and mixed in a large vat. The whisky is then diluted to its bottling strength, (generally 40 to 46% abv), and bottled for sale. Recently, cask-strength, or undiluted, whisky has become popular, with alcohol content as high as 60%.
Independent bottlers, such as Gordon & MacPhail, Murray McDavid, Signatory, Hart Brothers, and Cadenhead, buy casks of single malts and either bottle them immediately or store them for future use. Many of the independents began as stores and merchants who bought the whisky in bulk and bottled it for individual sales. Many distilleries do not bottle their whisky as a single malt, so independent bottlings are the only way the single malt gets to market. The bottling process is generally the same, but independents generally do not have access to the distillery's water source, so another source is used to dilute the whisky. Additionally, independents are generally less concerned with maintaining a particular style, so more single year and single cask bottlings are produced.
[edit] History
Distillation of whisky has been performed in Scotland for centuries. The earliest written record of whisky production in Scotland from malted barley is an entry on the 1494 Exchequer Rolls, which reads "Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor, by order of the King, wherewith to make aqua vitae."
In the following centuries, the various governments of Scotland began taxing the production of whisky, to the point that most of the spirit was produced illegally. However, in 1823, Parliament passed an act making commercial distillation much more profitable, while imposing punishments on landowners when unlicensed distilleries were found on their properties. George Smith was the first person to take out a licence for a distillery under the new law, founding the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824.
In the 1830s, Aeneas Coffey refined a design originally created by Robert Stein for a continuous stills which produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional pot stills, but with much less flavour. Quickly, merchants began blending the malt whisky with the grain whisky distilled in the continuous stills, making the first blended Scotch whisky. The blended Scotch proved quite successful, less expensive to produce than malt with more flavour and character than grain. The combination allowed the single malt producers to expand their operations as the blended whisky was more popular on the international market. As of 2004, over 90% of the single malt Scotch produced is used to make blended Scotch.
Most distilleries in Scotland are not owned by Scots. The Japanese beverage company Suntory owns Morrison-Bowmore, while other international companies, such as LVMH & Pernod-Ricard (France), and Diageo (England), own the majority of distilleries. The largest distiller to remain under Scottish ownership is William Grant & Sons, owned by the Grant family, with headquarters in Motherwell, Scotland. Other Distilleries owned by Scottish Companies/families are Glenfarclas, Bruichladdich, and Bunnahabhain.
[edit] Regions
Flavor, aroma, and finish will differ widely from one single malt to the next. Single Malt Scotch whisky can be categorized into the following regions, although the region the malt is from is a poor indicator of general character and flavour
- Highland Single Malts
- Speyside Single Malts
- Island Single Malts
- Islay Single Malts
- Lowland Single Malts
- Campbeltown Single Malts
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Broom, Dave (1998). Whiskey - A Connoisseur's Guide. London. Carleton Books Limited. ISBN 1-85868-706-3
- Broom, Dave (2000). Handbook of Whisky. London. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-59846-2
- Erskine, Kevin (2006). The Instant Expert's Guide to Single Malt Scotch - Second Edition. Richmond, VA. Doceon Press. ISBN 0-9771991-1-8
- Gabányi, Stefan; Stockman, Russell (Tr) (1997). Whisk(e)y (first ed.). New York, New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN 0-7892-3080-9
- Harris, James F.; Waymack, Mark H. (1992). Single-malt whiskies of Scotland. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8126-9213-6
- Jackson, Michael; Lucas, Sharon (ed.) (1999). Michael Jackson's complete guide to Single Malt Scotch (fourth ed.). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press Book Publishers. ISBN 0-7624-0731-X
- MacLean, Charles (2003) Scotch Whiskey: A Liquid History Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 1-84403-078-4
- Murray, Jim (2000). The world whiskey guide. London; Carlton Books Limited. ISBN 1-84222-006-3
- Wishart, David (2006). Whisky Classified - Second Edition. London. Pavillion Books. ISBN 1-86205-716-8
[edit] External links
- Malt Maniacs - Malt whisky info and comment for beginners and experts by 24 whisky aficionados from around the world
- The Scotch Blog news and commentary on the Scotch Whisky Industry
- Whisky Pages Great new online whisky site from author Gavin Smith
- Whisky School News and commentary from Whisky Industry insiders
- The Whisky Guide
- The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (single cask malts)
- Whiskyfun Tasting notes and fun.
