Scotch whiskey involves the five
processes of .....
1. Malting:
Conversion of the BARLEY grain into malt by soaking it in WATER and spreading
it on a malting floor to allow it to germinate. Once germinated the growth
process is stopped by killing the sprouted barley by using PEAT smoke.
2. Mashing: The
malt is ground (milled) and put in a large vat called a mashtun where hot
WATER is added in three separate steps. The resulting sugary liquid called
wort is drained off into vats called washbacks.
3. Fermentation:
YEAST is added to the wort and allowed to ferment for about two days. The
result is a "sour beer or ale" containing about 8 percent alcohol.
4. Distillation:
The liquid, now called wash, is then double distilled in pot stills. The first
distillation is done in a "wash still" and the second distillation is done
in a "spirit still". The resulting "raw" spirit is about 75% alcohol and is
stored in the intermediate spirit receiver. WATER is now added to reduce the
spirit content to about 64% and then stored in the spirit vats from which
the maturation casks are filled.
5. Maturation:
The spirit is now inserted into oak casks of various sizes for maturation.
The oak cask employed were used previously to mature either wines of various
types or American whiskies. The legal minimum number of years of maturation
is 3, but good whiskies are matured for much longer. When the aged whiskey
is bottled WATER is again added to reduce the alcohol content to not less
than 40%.
