UW Selections' Guide to Whisky

MALTING

• Malting: Barley is soaked in water to encourage germination. During germination, enzymes convert starches into fermentable sugars.

• Drying: The germinated barley is dried in a kiln, sometimes with peat smoke (for peated whiskies) or air-dried. 

MASHING

• The dried malted barley is ground into a coarse powder called grist.
• The grist is mixed with warm water in a mash tun, extracting sugars and other soluble compounds. 
• The liquid extract, called wort, is drained off.
  

FERMENTATION

• The wort is transferred to fermentation vessels, usually wooden or stainless steel tanks.
• Yeast is added to ferment the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
• This process typically lasts several days and produces a low-alcohol wash.

DISTILLATION

• The wash is distilled in copper stills (Pot stills or Column stills), depending on the type of whisky. 
• First distillation: Produces a liquid called "wash distillate" or "raw spirit". 
• Second distillation: Further refines the spirit, increasing its alcohol content and removing impurities. 
• The distillation process is carefully controlled to achieve the desired flavour profiles and alcohol strength.
  

AGEING

• The distilled spirit called new make spirit or new spirit, is transferred to oak barrels for ageing. 
• Ageing: The whisky matures in barrels for several years, minimum legal ageing periods vary by country, which is 3 years in Scotland. 
• During ageing, whisky interacts with the wood, gaining flavour, colour, and complexity.

BOTTLING

• After ageing, the whisky is filtered and sometimes diluted with water to reach the desired bottling strength. 
• It may be blended with other whiskies, such as blended whisky or bottled as a single malt or single grain whisky.
• Finally, the whisky is bottled and labelled for sale.