Whisky Fundamentals
Malting grain
Published 17/08/2021
Malt and grain look very similar, but before grain becomes malt, it goes through a relatively complex process - malting. The grain of barley, by far the most important grain in brewing, consists of over 60% starch and long-chain dextrins, but only about 2% sugar. Even with other brewing grains such as wheat or rye, the approach is not fundamentally different. Yeast cannot process starch, it only ferments sugar. The breakdown of starch into fermentable sugar happens during mashing, but malting creates the conditions for fermenation.
Malting grain
What are Independent whiskies bottlers?
Published 16/08/2021
Independent bottlers of single malt whisky are companies that do not necessarily produce their own whisky, but purchase individual barrels from distilleries, which they later bottle under their own branded label. In most cases, where teaspooning does not prevent this, the name of the original distillery may also be mentioned on the label of these bottlings. Excluding blends and supermarket chains the majority of independently bottled whiskies are single cask bottlings, bottled without spirit caramel colouring and chill filtration.
What are Independent whiskies bottlers?
Scotland's Whisky Regions
Published 16/08/2021
When it comes to whisky, Scotland immediately springs to mind, even to the uninitiated. Indeed, Scotland is famous for its whisky. The Scots are still arguing with the Irish about who invented the whisky. Both have good and understandable arguments, which you are welcome to read in our posts on the history of Scottish whisky and the history of Irish whisky . In this post, we don’t want to argue, but rather introduce you to the five whisky regions in Scotland.
Scotland's Whisky Regions
The Gaelic language & its history
Published 09/08/2021
The Gaelic language belongs to the Goidelic branch of the island Celtic languages and is closely related to the Irish and Manx languages. The close relationship with the Irish language can be explained by the immigration of Scots from Ireland to Scotland since the 4th century. In Ireland the language is Irish, while in Scotland the correct term is Gaelic. Although Irish and Gaelic share a common linguistic ancestor, they diverged and switched to two different languages over time.
The Gaelic language & its history
Mizunara oak whisky casks
Published 05/08/2021
Mizunara oak (Quercus crispula) is not the obvious choice for whisky making and maturation. Mizunara oak is rare and expensive to obtain, it grows twisted so is difficult to cut into staves and being both wet and soft is an ordeal for the cooper. If that was not enough the casks have a tendency to leak. Despite all this, whisky producers in Japan are enthusiastic about it, and the wood is starting to attract attention around the world due to its unique flavour profile.
Mizunara oak whisky casks