Scotch whisky is malt whisky or grain whisky, made in Scotland.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, a single malt means that the whisky has not been blended elsewhere with whisky from other distilleries. As with any Scotch whisky, a single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years, although most single malts are matured longer.
Irish whiskey is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' comes from the Irish uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry, so much so that although Ireland boasted at least 28 distilleries in the 1890s, by 1966 this number had fallen to just two, and by 1972 the remaining distilleries, Bushmills Distillery and Old Midleton Distillery, were owned by just one company, Irish Distillers.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as effectively as other distillation methods. Pot stills operate on a batch distillation basis. Traditionally constructed from copper, pot stills are made in a range of shapes and sizes depending on the quantity and style of spirit desired.
A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still is a variety of still consisting of two columns. Column stills can produce rectified spirit.
Grain whisky normally refers to any whisky made, at least in part, from grains other than malted barley. Frequently used grains include maize, wheat, and rye. Grain whiskies usually contain some malted barley to provide enzymes needed for mashing and are required to include it if they are produced in Ireland or Scotland. Whisky made only from malted barley is generally called "malt whisky" rather than grain whisky. Most American and Canadian whiskies are grain whiskies.
Springbank distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland.
Malt whisky is whisky made from a fermented mash consisting of malted barley. If the product is made exclusively at a single distillery, it is typically called a single malt whisky. Although malt whisky can be made using other malted grains besides barley, those types are not called malt whisky without specifying the grain, such as rye malt whisky or buckwheat malt whisky.
Cooley Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland founded in 1987 and owned by Beam Suntory.
Alberta Premium is one of the few remaining 100% rye grain rye whiskies produced in North America. The brand is owned by Beam Suntory
Green Spot is a single pot still Irish whiskey, produced specifically for Mitchell & Son of Dublin by Irish Distillers at the Midleton Distillery in Cork, Ireland. Green Spot is one of the few remaining bonded Irish whiskeys, along with Mitchell's three older offerings, Yellow Spot, Red Spot, and Blue Spot. It is one of only four whiskeys specifically produced for and sold by an independent wine merchant in Ireland.
Redbreast is a brand of single pot still Irish Whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. It was originally bottled by Gilbey's, a Dublin spirits merchant using distillate sourced from Jameson's Bow Street Distillery. In the 1980s, the brand was purchased by Irish Distillers, the producer of Jameson. It is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world.
Straight whiskey, as defined in United States law, is whiskey that is distilled from a fermented cereal grain mash to a concentration not exceeding 80% alcohol by volume (abv) and aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years at a concentration not exceeding 62.5% at the start of the aging process. Domestic sales of straight whiskey surpassed 27 million 9-liter cases in 2021.
Australian Whisky is whisky produced in Australia. As of December 2021, there were 333 registered distilleries in operation within Australia, of which approximately 50 have a whisky on the market. The industry has shown steady growth since the early 90s especially in the boutique craft distilling scene.
Stauning Whisky is a whisky distillery in Denmark. It is located in the western part of Jutland just south of a small village called Stauning near Skjern. The distillery was founded in May 2005 by nine Danish whisky enthusiasts and is the oldest whisky distillery in the Kingdom of Denmark. The idea was originally to create a whisky resembling the peated whisky produced on the Scottish isle of Islay. The production is done mainly by hand using local grain and water. Everything is produced following the traditional Scottish methods of whisky production. The preparations started in a building owned by one of the nine founders, formerly used as a private slaughter-house. The building was renovated and official permission obtained.
Teeling Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery established in Dublin in 2015 by the Teeling Whiskey Company. It is the first new whiskey distillery to have opened in Dublin, once a world whiskey distilling capital, in over 125 years. In fact, with the last of the original Dublin distilleries having closed in 1976, it is the first whiskey distillery to operate in Dublin, once home to at least 37 distilleries, in almost 40 years.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky:
