Seems to me many people are kind of clueless about whiskey. It's become a major hobby of mine, and something I like to share with people. So here's an explainer, a post on the basics. Whiskey is a general term for an alcoholic spirit distilled from grains and matured in wood barrels. Bourbon (e.g. Jim Beam) and Scotch (e.g. Johnny Walker) are both whiskies.
To be labeled a certain way it must meet certain specifications, set by the country of origin. Here's a simplified breakdown.
'Bourbon whiskey' - produced in America, 51+% corn mash, bottled 40%+ ABV
'Straight Bourbon whiskey' - Bourbon matured in oak 2+ years, no added colors/flavors
'Rye whiskey' - meets other specs of bourbon, but 51+% rye mash
'Scotch whisky' - produced in Scotland, matured in oak 3+ years, bottled 40+% ABV
'Single malt Scotch whisky' - Scotch from a single distillery, using only malted barley
'Blended Scotch whisky' - Scotch from multiple distilleries mixed together
'Irish whiskey' - produced on Ireland, matured in wood 3+ years, bottled 40+% ABV
'Single pot still whiskey' - Irish whiskey from a single distillery, includes unmalted (raw) barley
Yes, the different countries even spell it differently. In the United States and Ireland, it's spelled 'whiskey' and in all other producing countries (Scotland, Canada, Japan etc.) it's spelled 'whisky.' I've used whisk(e)y as an encompassing term, but will drop the parentheses. We're in America after all.
The production general process is the same everywhere.
1. Mash (grains and water) -> Wash (beer)
2. Distill
3. Mature
4. Bottle
Dried grains are ground and mixed with hot water (making the 'mash'). The resulting liquid is called 'wort' and contains sugars extracted from the grains. Yeast is added. After fermenting a few days you essentially have a very boring beer (the 'wash'). Then the wash is distilled.
A distillation involves boiling a liquid, capturing the resulting vapor and then cooling it back into a liquid. When a fermented liquid is distilled it results in a much higher alcohol content.
Nearly all whiskey distillation uses copper stills. The shape of the still has a huge impact on the flavor of the spirit produced. For example, if a still is extra tall, only the lightest and most delicate vapors make it out and through the process, resulting in a lighter spirit. But not every distillery wants that. Every distillery's stills are a specific shape to produce the spirit they desire. Bourbon stills are usually column shaped. Scotch/Irish stills are more bulbous.
The number of distillations separates countries as well. Bourbon is technically distilled twice, though the second distillation through a 'doubler' is less intense than the first. Scotch is distilled twice as well, using similarly shaped stills called the 'wash still' and the 'spirit still.' Irish whiskey goes further, doing three distillations. There are exceptions. For example not all Bourbon producers use columns and one Scotch distillery (Auchentoshan) triple distills.
The spirit taken from the distillation is then matured. This means it's put in wood barrels and sits there for years. It becomes 'whiskey' by reaching the maturation required by law. Technically Bourbon just needs to touch wood, but any good whiskey will spend a lot of time in there. Bourbon usually uses new charred oak barrels for maturation. Scotch uses oak barrels from a variety of sources, including wines, but most common are old Bourbon barrels. Slowly it takes on qualities of the wood, including flavor and color, and mellows it as well. Nothing impacts a whiskey more than the wood used and length of maturation. This is by far the most time consuming part of the process, and one reason the industry is struggling to keep up with the increasing demands of the public. You can't speed up time.
Finally the whiskey is bottled. At this stage, whiskey from the barrel is mixed with whiskey from other barrels to provide a consistent product, plus water bringing it to the desired ABV. This aspect impresses me so much. The 'master distiller' at each distillery ensures uniformity for the different available expressions (bottles, like a 10 year). And since I don't have the taste buds for it, I simply cannot understand how they do it.
If you're interested in whiskey and master distillers, I highly recommend this documentary.
It's free on Prime right now.
In the end, whiskies from different countries have distinct flavors due to how they're produced. Bourbon is sweet, lacking much of a range in my opinion. The mash doesn't vary much, and neither do the methods. When you do change the mash, you get a different kind of whiskey entirely. That's rye, and it's much drier and spicier than Bourbon. Scotch, on the other hand, has a wide variety of flavors. This is due not just to changing stills and maturation, but also location. Forever the regions defined how a whisky would taste, though it's less true today. I do think there's a significant difference between inland and coastal whiskies. Plus there's peat, the most distinctive Scotch flavor of all. Peat moss is basically dirt and grass. When a whiskey is 'peaty' they used peat in the fires to dry the barley, and there's nothing else quite like it. Finally, Irish whiskey is usually light, maybe a little fruity, but its calling card is smoothness from triple distillation. It's easy to drink and that's the point.
As for my preferences, it's still probably Scotch, then Bourbon, then Irish, though I like all three. Scotch was first. The bottle that started this obsession was the Balvenie 12 year 'Doublewood,' an introduction to sherry maturation albeit short. The variety continues to bring me back. There are delightfully complex coastal whiskies (Oban, Springbank) and sweeter 'sherry-bombs' (Aberlour, Glendronach). Peaty Islay whiskies (Laphroaig, Ardbeg) have become common originally because they're my wife's favorite. Once I liked Scotch, Irish came naturally. As for Bourbon, for a while I liked fewer than those I didn't. I've since found some great ones and gained appreciation, though the big realization was a preference for high-proof, such as the cask-strength Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. There can be too much sweetness, but not too much richness or lingering flavor and burn. I keep a list of bottles to try and those I've have already had, though it's not always up to date.
I haven't really mentioned Canadian or Japanese whisky. There may be a few examples of good Canadian whisky out there, but I don't know them. To me it's cheap and not worth the time. Sorry Crown. Japanese whisky on the other hand is very similar to Scotch and produced basically the same way. A few I've tried have been very good.
Hopefully you've gotten something out of this. I'll continue to do some of my fairly unspecific reviews. I joke, but while I'm really not much of a taster, I do know what I like. Maybe I'll do more lessons too since this was fun, though longer and tougher than I thought (seven! new ideas from excess in the article).
All this whiskey talk is making me want one. See ya.
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