Distillery Lists

Whisky Fundementals

Social Links

Grain Whisky

Contents

  1. What is a Grain Whisky?
  2. Grain Whiskies often Contain Barley
  3. Grain Whisky is not made in Pot Stills
  4. Grain Whisky is the Basis of Blended Whiskies
  5. Grain Whiskies Are Often Stored In Spent Casks
  6. Grain Distilleries and Brands Are Largely Unknown
  7. Grain Whisky Is A Global Phenomenon

Grain whisky is the most common kind of whisky produced and yet the least heralded. Single malt may capture the imagination but 90% of all scotch whisky sales globaly are blends of single malt with grain whiskies.

What is a Grain Whisky?

A grain whisky is any whisky not made using 100% malted barley on a pot still. While a grain whisky is generally taken to be any whisky made without malted barley this is incorrect. There numerous examples of whiskies made only using malted barley which cannot legally be classified as single malts. Tehnically barley is a grain, and thus all whiskies are made using grain however a grain whisky is a legal/technical classification rather than a straight description.

Grain Whiskies often Contain Barley

Whisky was likely first distilled in Scotland or Ireland in the 15th century, while evidence of distillation goes back further the first documentary dates back to 1494. When these first whiskies were created, no Scot or Irishman was thinking about malt versus grain whisky. With grain, and beer being hard to transport and quick to spoil the creation of whisky represented a storable pottable wealth. And as a source of intoxication the whisky helped make the daily grind more bearable in a time of hard work and short life.

In contrast to malt whiskies, grain whiskies are made from all kinds of cereals. These are particularly often wheat or corn (both cheaper than barley), but oats and rye can also be used. However in order to extract the maltose (sugar) from grain requires a catalyzing agent, present in barley but in far smaller amounts in other grains. It is for this reason American Rye and Bourbons often contain artificial enzymes or a small proportion (~5%) malted barley.

Grain Whisky is not made in Pot Stills

In addition to the grain, it is primarily the distilling process that makes the biggest difference between malt whisky and grain whisky. A continuous column distillation system (also called column still, patent still or coffey still) is used to produce grain whisky. These are used to produce a large amount of alcohol more quickly as the production of grain whisky in these huge stills is significantly more efficient.

Grain Whisky is the Basis of Blended Whiskies

A blended whisky is a whisky created by the mixing of whisky from different distilleries. Blends created using only whisky from single malt distilleries, typically called blended malts or vatted malts, are only a fraction of total blend production. The overwhelming majority are comprised of a mixture ofmultiple single malts and grain whisky. The taste of the blend is almost exclusively influenced by the malts, the grain whisky being a cheaper addition.

As a rule of thumb the cheaper a blend, the more grain whisky is in the mixture. The exact ratio of grain in the blend is not revealed, or even mentioned, by the manufacturers who generally talk about the many malts that make the blend so complex and interesting. With cheap over the counter blends one should assume a grain content of 80% or more. Even higher quality blends are generally made up of more than 50% grain.

Grain Whiskies Are Often Stored In Spent Casks

By law all Scotch whisky must be matured for a minimum of three years in order to be called whisky. For single malts 10 years or more is considered normal. Grain whiskies suffer inferior cask maturation in two important ways:

Grain whisky naturally interacts with the wood, and like malt whiskies gains additional flavours (additive maturation), loses unwanted notes (subtractive maturation), but still never reaches the depth and complexity of a malt whisky. The distillate from the column distillation being more efficient removes more of the base flavours and make for fewer and less desirable flavour compound creation.

Most grains do not necessarily mature in fresh or particularly notable oak casks. As casks and barrels can be used almost indefinitely in Scotland, the bulk of grain whiskies mature in casks that are reaching the end of their natural life. This is especially true when it comes to cheap brands.

Grain Distilleries and Brands Are Largely Unknown

Grain whisky distilleries mainly produce for blends and burn their whisky largely “in secret”. Bottles from these distilleries are therefore only available as single grain whiskies in a few individual cases and the whisky brands are largely unknown to average whisky fans compared to malt distilleries. Only the independent Loch Lomond distillery regularly produces its own whiskies in large numbers.

Incidentally, the over 100 active Scottish whisky distilleries are currently outproduced by only 7 grain distilleries. Since large quantities of grain whisky are required in particular for blends (by far the best-selling whisky variety), one can imagine how enormous the output of these industrial distilleries is. Every year millions of liters are produced in these industrial sites for important Scotch blends such as Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, Famous Grouse or Ballantine’s. They are in the hands of large liquor groups (which usually also have malt distilleries).

The following grain distilleries are currently active in Scotland:

The latter of which is a single malt distillery with a grain distillery within.

Grain Whisky Is A Global Phenomenon

When it comes to grain whisky, many people first think of the Scotch blends already mentioned. But there are now a number of manufacturers who are trying to enhance the grain’s poor image. They proudly present new bottlings that are on the shelf alongside other whiskies from the same distillery. In addition to Scottish grain whiskies such as Haig Club, Kilbeggan Single Grain is also used to distill Irish whisky from grain (in this case mainly corn).

The Koval distillery from the USA focuses on the flavor intensity of four different grains - the Koval Four Grainis made from oats, malted barley, rye and wheat. Well-known grain whiskies from Japan such as Nikka Coffey Grain (distilled in Coffey stills) or Suntory’s Chita, which is made from three different types of grain and matures in different oak barrels.

Share via