![]() ![]() There are specific types of American whiskey, however, that have more restrictive parameters. ![]() In the United States, American whiskey merely needs to touch wood for a matter of minutes and it can still wear the term, ‘whiskey’ on the label. In Scotland and Ireland the liquid has to be aged in wood casks for no less than three years. But just to recap: whiskey is very generally any spirit distilled from cereal grains and aged for a certain amount of time in barrels. So now you know the main types of whiskey and where they come from. If nothing else, it’s a great entry point for people that are looking to ease their way into the world of whiskey. Blended whiskeys are usually pretty easy to drink, offering fruity aromas and flavours that go down easy. Today the main styles of whiskey include single malt–which is made from 100% malted barley, usually in Scotland (Scotch) or Ireland (Irish single malt) bourbon which is made from at least 51% corn in the United States rye–which is made predominantly from its namesake grain, also in the United States and blended whiskey, which can include all kinds of cereal grains, but usually it involves a component of grain whiskey which is distilled to be lighter and easier to drink than single malts which are usually heavier and more robust from pot still distillation.Ĭontemporary whiskey enthusiasts tend to shy away from blended and grain whiskey in favour of the more robust stuff, but that doesn’t mean you should. In the New World it was more about corn and rye. In the Highlands of Scotland, and the windswept fields of Ireland, this has historically equaled barley. That is, whiskey makers are going to rely heavily on the grains they have at their disposal. Types Of Whiskeyīut no matter where it’s being made–or when–whiskey is reflective of the ingredients available in its direct vicinity of origin. This is how we got the liquid that we know today as whiskey. Then they learned, by happy accident, that this wood actually imparted fantastic flavour into the whiskey–along with a brilliant amber colour. ![]() Eventually whiskey makers on both sides of the Atlantic would start to store their spirits in oak barrels, for convenience sake. When the American Colonies were founded shortly thereafter, many of those intrepid settlers brought with them the skills of whiskey making to the New World. And thus began the proliferation of whiskey makers, and whiskey drinking across the United Kingdom and Ireland. But as King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 16th Century, the knowledge and practice spread out into the general public. Up until this point, distillation was still largely the business of monks. This carefully managed chronicle dating back to 1405 details the death of the head of a clan as a result of consuming excessive amounts of the liquid during a Christmas celebration! The Scots, meanwhile, can trace their earliest record back to 1494, when King James IV granted a large amount of malt to Friar John Cor to make his water of life – after proper duty had been paid, of course. The first written record of the term appears in the Irish Annals of Clonmacnoise. In Irish, that phrase is “uisce beatha,” which was eventually anglicised into “whiskey.” They even had a name for it: water of life. Those monks started running their spirit through heated metal tubes and it concentrated the alcohol content into a primordial sort of white whiskey. The technique was eventually carried through Europe and arrived in Ireland by way of travelling monks during the first Millennia A.D. But for centuries it was primarily used as a way to develop medicines, perfumes, and essential oils for religious ceremonies. Distillation was invented in the Middle East as far back as 4000 years ago. Let’s get started with a brief rundown of several thousand years worth of whiskey history, shall we? Don’t worry…This is the best sort of history lesson. ![]() Join the conversation by learning more about the world of whiskey and what each style has to offer. And just because the most devoted of whiskey enthusiasts disagree on what exactly is number one doesn’t mean that it’s not a fun debate to have. But in order to figure that out you need to know what to expect from each of the main types of whiskey. Which one is the best? Well that all depends on your own personal palate. In Scotland and Japan it’s ‘whisky’ – without the ‘e’. In Ireland and the United States it’s ‘whiskey’. In fact, it’s not even all spelled the same. ![]()
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