3 I 2012 - Grandhotel Pupp

a thousand tastes of whisky
How whisky is made
1 Malting
2 Fermentation
3 Distillation
4 Maturation
Continuation from the previous number
4 MATURING
is probably the most mysterious process of whisky production. Newly
distilled whisky, diluted to about 64 %, is filled in oak casks where it
gets its typical colour, flavour and smell. As new casks are not used on
principle, it is very important to know what matured in the casks
before and how many times they have been used. Casks after bourbon
or sherry are used most often. The process of maturing and its speed
are also influenced by climate. Maturing is faster if the climate is
warm. Variation in temperature and the location of stores exercise
influence too depending on if they are in a humid or windy place or
by the sea. Mark Skipworth says that the Seagram firm sent some
casks from Scotland to the U.S.A. to have whisky matured there and
when the spirits were compared some years later, the sample from the
U.S.A. was completely different from that kept a Scottish distillery. An
optimal age of whisky is frequently discussed as well. The opinion of
it is not the same and will probably never be. All whiskies maturing
for five or thirty years have their specific qualities stressed by the individual
character of this or that brand. Specialists only agree that
malt whisky has to mature for a longer time than grain whisky.
However, the result is always an original spirit which characterizes
Scotland – with a tint of mountain heather, peat and algae.
TYPES OF PRODUCTION
1 Pot still type of production is the basic type of malt whisky production
which uses copper inwards and apparatuses typical of individual
distilleries. Each distillery has at least two pot stills. The first
one is bigger and is used for separating alcohol from water to get
a spirit with a low content of alcohol. The other one is smaller. From
it, real whisky without any ingredients goes to a cooler. Some pot
stills are narrow and high which results in steam condensation
before it gets to the cooler and then the spirit is lighter, finer and
better smelling thanks to a more thorough distillation. Some pot
stills are wide and short and then the spirit is full-bodied, more oily
and with a higher amount of alcohol. Some of them are almost
dwarf-like, such as those is Edradour, and some are giant like those
in Glemorangie, some are robust and round like in Auchroisk. As
experts say that each change to the equipment results in the change
in the flavour of whisky, no-one in any distillery dares to change the
shape of distilling vessels no matter how thoroughly the distillery is
being modernized. The shape and size of the still is one of few things
nobody has ever intended to change for centuries.
2 Lomondstill is a system where distillation takes place in a smaller
and more compact device and the result is stronger and richer malt
whisky which is reputedly not of such a good quality like whisky made
in a traditional way. This type of production was invented by Alistair
Cunningham and Arthur Warren together with Hiram Walker in 1955
and its wider use finished before the year 1990. It has been used in the
Scapa Distillery and sometimes in Loch Lomond until these days.
3 Patent still (columnstill in the U.S.A.) type of production is a system
which uses modern stills invented in the year 1873. They are
based on the original Coffey still dating from 1830, which was an
improvement of Robert Stein’s still. The final product is a light
spirit with a high content of alcohol. Both grain whisky and vodka
and bourbon are made in this way. There are pairs of relatively big
stills in the distillery – the first one is a separating still and the other
is a rectification still. From the latter one, the spirit goes to a storage
tank. Grain is processed (most often wheat in Scotland and
maize in the U.S.A.) with only a small addition of rye malt. The
result is pure alcohol. An advantage of this method is a continuous
manufacturing process resulting in much higher production.
Apart from these above mentioned methods of production, there
are also others, which were originally used in the production of
other spirits and which are still used in some microdistilleries
today (especially in the U.S.A.) which have been converted into
whisky distilleries. They are e.g. Eau-de-vie and Charentais still
commonly used in brandy distillation, Holstein still used in breweries
and Jenever still.
From The Big Book about Whisky by Vladimír Kulhánek,
Dokořán (2007). To be continued.
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