Making of the Scotch

It is important to understand the process behind scotch preparation. I never realised understanding the process help appreciate the finer nuances until I recently visited a winery. Wikipedia is a very helpful tool and I have edited the information from there so that it is easily understood.

Scotch whisky (often referred to simply as "Scotch") is malt whisky or grain whisky made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malt barley. Commercial distilleries began introducing whisky made from wheat and rye in the late eighteenth century.

Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories:

·         single malt Scotch whisky

·         single grain Scotch whisky

·         blended malt Scotch whisky

·         blended grain Scotch whisky - BlackDog Scotch is made from the best quality grain and not from molasses. The Scotch is made from 10-20% malted barley and other unmalted cereals like wheat and maize. That’s the reason why it’s called as grain Scotch whiskey.

·         blended Scotch whisky

All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Any age statement on a bottle of Scotch whisky, expressed in numerical form, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed-age whisky.
In 2009, the Scotch Whisky Regulations (SWR) define and regulate the production, labelling, packaging, and advertising of Scotch whisky and made it further stringent. The SWR define "Scotch whisky" as whisky that is:

• Produced at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley (to which only whole grains of other cereals may be added) all of which have been:
• Processed at that distillery into a mash
• Converted at that distillery to a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems
• Fermented at that distillery only by adding yeast
• Wholly matured in an excise warehouse in Scotland in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres for at least three years
• Retaining the colour, aroma, and taste of the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production and maturation
• Containing no added substances, other than water and plain caramel colouring
• Comprising a minimum alcoholic strength by volume of 40%

Never knew the bottle of Scotch has to go through such tough measures before we start sipping them. For the uninitiated like me, this is a good start. Let’s wait to see what we cover tomorrow.