Whisky

What whisky is

Whisky is made from grain: mashed, fermented, distilled and then matured in oak casks. Barley, corn, rye and wheat are the usual four, and the proportions set the frame of the finished spirit. What separates whisky from gin or vodka is time — the years in wood before bottling matter as much as anything that happened in the still.

Two spellings are in use. Scotland, Canada and Japan write whisky; Ireland and the United States mostly write whiskey. The difference is custom, not quality.

How it is made

The grain is milled and mashed with hot water to make a sugary wort, fermented with yeast into a low-strength wash, and distilled. Pot stills work in batches and keep more of the grain and its esters; column stills are efficient and run lighter. The new spirit goes into oak, either fresh casks with a charred interior or casks that previously held sherry or bourbon. Most producing countries set a minimum maturation; Scotland and Ireland both require three years. Blending and reduction with water finish the job, unless the whisky is bottled at cask strength.

The main regions and styles

• Scotland — single malts and blends side by side; in some districts the malt is dried over peat smoke, which brings smoke and a medicinal edge.
• Ireland — often triple distilled, and softer for it.
• United States — bourbon is corn-led (the law asks for at least fifty-one per cent) and must mature in new charred oak, which makes it sweet and round; rye is drier and spicier, and it is what many classic recipes originally meant.
• Canada and Japan — the first known for light, blend-led whisky, the second largely following Scottish practice with a clean style of its own.

What it tastes like

Grain sweetness underneath, then vanilla, caramel, coconut and dried fruit from the cask, and with long maturation leather and tobacco. Rye adds pepper, peat adds smoke, sherry casks add raisin and nuts. The aromas are heavy and persistent, and they are not easily buried in a mixed drink.

Whisky in cocktails

It usually stands in the middle of the glass. Sugar, bitters and a little water make an Old Fashioned, a name that records an older way of drinking; swap those for sweet red vermouth and bitters, stir, and it is a Manhattan. Shaken with lemon juice and sugar syrup it is a Whiskey Sour; with Campari it turns bitter-sweet as a Boulevardier; with mint over crushed ice it is a Mint Julep; with hot coffee and cream it is an Irish Coffee.

Choosing a bottle for mixing

No brands, three questions. Which grain? A recipe that says rye wants dry spice; one that says bourbon wants corn sweetness. How much peat? Smoke is assertive, and a small measure will redirect the whole drink. Strength against price. Stirring and shaking both add water, so a gentle whisky can vanish — while a long-matured bottling rarely earns its place in a shaker.