Scotch Whisky
The name Whiskey or Whisky represents a wide group of alcoholic beverages, which is produced by distilling from fermented grains and then aged by storing in wooden (mostly oak) casks. Amongst different types of whisky produced in the world, Scotch whisky is most well known. Scotch whisky is a product of Scotland, which constitutes the northern part of Britain.
By British law, for an alcoholic beverage to be known as Scotch whisky, it should have the following characteristics:
- The product should have been distilled at a Scottish distillery using malted barley and water to which other whole grains could be added. Fermentation process is to be carried out by adding yeast only.
- After its distillation, it should contain less than 94.8% alcohol by volume so that it could retain the original flavor of the raw materials used for its production.
- Must be matured in Scotland after storing in oak casks for more than 3 years.
- No other material could be added to it except water and caramel for coloring the product.
- When bottled, it should contain at least forty per cent alcohol by volume.
Scotch whisky may be classified as Single or Blended. Single whiskies are the product of one distillery and Blended whiskies contain the products of more than one distillery.
Scotland has been divided into four regions for whisky production. They are The Highlands, Lowland, Islay and Campbeltown. Speyside, which constitutes Spey river valley in northeastern part of Scotland, is being considered as a separate region because about fifty percent of distilleries in Scotland are located in that region.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 4:17 am and is filed under Whiskey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.