Welcome to a Brief Tour to Scotch Whisky

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Welcome to a Brief Tour to Scotch Whisky

• Skye Gears
• Burns Night, January 25, 2008

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Whisky (from the Gaelic word uisge beatha, "water
of life") has been produced for hundreds of year
in Scotland since at least the fifteenth century.
Whisky is deeply rooted in Scottish history
and an icon product of Scotland.
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It is not only a cultural icon, but also an
important part of Scotlands economy. Today,
more than one billion bottles of Scotch Whisky
are sold worldwide per year.This compares with
Irish whiskey at about 5 of that number,
American at about 8 and Japanese about 3.
Source 1,16, 18
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It is Scotlands 3rd largest and UKs 5th
largest manufactured export. Its overseas sales
amount to a staggering 2.5 billion per year.
In total, whisky and other spirits are worth
3.3 billion per year to the Scottish economy and
supports 41,000 jobs in Scotland.
Source 14, 15, 16
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Scotch Whisky Sales Distribution
TOP EXPORT MARKETS BY SALES US 400m France
275m Spain 195m South Korea 136m Venezuela
106m Source Scotch Whisky Association 2006
Source 17
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You may have visited one of the Whisky
shops.You may have been to one of the Whisky
tasting events.
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Image Source 1
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Or, you may have been one of those lucky persons
who have the chance to taste the finest Whisky
straight out of a barrel.But do you know where
Scotch Whisky comes from?
Image Source 1
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In this tutorial, I would like tobriefly
introduce you to the regions where Scotch
Whiskies come from and the making process of
Scotch Whisky.
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Whisky is fascinating and important to Scottish
economy, but do you know that it is made from
three ingredients only. They are

• Barley
• Spring water
• Yeast
• Sometimes peat is also fired to enhance the
  flavour, but this is optional.

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Here is a Whisky map that shows the distribution
of distilleries in Scotland.
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Image Source 6
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Scotland is divided into five whisky-producing
regions. Each has its own style and its share of
devotees. They are the Lowlands, Highlands,
Campbeltown, island of Islay and Speyside. More
than half of the distilleries are in Speyside.
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Image Source 6
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Whisky Distilleries are often resided in scenic
countrysideand with interesting architectures.
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Image Source 7.2
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In our selected pictures, the distilleries sport
a twin pagoda roof.
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Strathisla Scotch Whisky Distillery
Image Source 7.1
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To Make Whisky The single most important
ingredient is Barley.There are 7Stages
inmakingWhisky.
Image Source 8
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Stage 1 MaltingBarley are soaked in water to
allow germination, so enzymes turn the starch
into sugar. Grains of barley start to sprout
to becomeso-calledgreen malts.
Image Source 9
Image Source 10
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Stage 2 KilningTo smoke dry the green malts to
stop germination and prevent sugar being used for
growing.Sometimes, peat is fired to create smoke
to add flavour to the malt. Traditionally, malts
are spread thinly on the floor modern systems
make use of rotary drums to air and heat the malt.
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Floor Kilning
Image Source 4
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Stage 3 MillingIn this stage, barley malts are
grinded to produce grist (65 husk, 25 middle,
and 10 flour).
The Mill
Image Source 3
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Stage 4 MashingMix hot water with grist in a
large vessel called Mash Tun to extract sugars.
The output is hot, sweet water, called wort
Image Source 3
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Stage 5 FermentingTransfer cooled wort to
Wash-Backs. Yeast is added to turn wort into
weakalcohol, calledwash.
Image Source 12
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Stage 6 DistillingThe wash is transferred to
a wash still that is typically heated to 80
degrees. Its vapour is collected to become low
wines. This is repeated at a second (low
wines) still to produce70-79 spirit.
Image Source 5.2
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Scotch Whisky Stills
Image Source 5.1
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It may be worth mentioning thatthe shape of the
still, the height, shape and length of its neck,
and the fact that the still is copper rather than
other metals all contribute to the
characteristics of the whisky. Modern stainless
steel stills do not remove impurities from
whiskies.
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Stage 7 MaturingScotch spirit is stored and
matured in oak casks. The minimum legal
requirement is 3 years. The type of wood used and
what was stored in the barrel previously give
additional flavour to the Whisky.
Image Source 12
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References

1. Ian Bankier, the Whisky Shop, http//www.whiskysho
   p.com/
2. Royal Mile Whiskies.com http//www.royalmilewhisk
   ies.com/viewindex.asp?article_idwb_making
3. BruichLaddich http//www.bruichladdich.com/making
   _whisky.htm
4. Floor malting http//www.undiscoveredscotland.co.
   uk/usfeatures/maltwhisky/maltings.html
5. Scotch Whisky Stills
6. http//www.maltmadness.com/44-0004.jpg
7. http//www.whiskyacademy.com/images/distillers.jpg
   
8. Whisky map http//www.scotchwhisky.net/distilleri
   es/
9. Distillery
10. http//www.entirescotland.co.uk/scottish_whisky_di
    stilleries.html
11. http//www.entirescotland.co.uk/scottish_whisky_di
    stillery_tours.html
12. Barley http//www.freefoto.com/preview/9907-06-31
    ?ffid9907-06-31
13. Green Malt http//www.schmohz.com/images/beer-mal
    t2.jpeg
14. Barley grains http//www.lethamshank.co.uk/crops.
    htm
15. Whisky WashBacks http//www.whisky-distilleries.i
    nfo/Bowmore2_EN.shtml
16. Whisky Barrels http//www.harbour-inn.com/gallery
    /whisky_barrels.jpg
17. Strathisla Distillery http//www.undiscoveredscot
    land.co.uk/keith/keith/
18. BBC News, DEC 18, 2007 (3.3bn)
    http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7150219.stm
19. BBC News, Dec 29, 2007 (2.5bn)
    http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/716364
    9.stm

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End of slides