World of Whiskies

WORLD OF WHISKIES

SINGLE MALT
Arguably the most praised of all whisky types, by definition, Single Malt whisky is just a malt whisky produced at a single distillery. Single malts are
typically associated with Scotland, but they can be produced in other countries.
In recent years, countries like Japan and India, have been incredibly successful at adopting the classic scotch production method and making it their own. Single Malts must be made exclusively from malted barley, distilled in pot stills and aged for at least 3 years in oak casks – but the rest is entirely up to the Master Distiller, which is why the flavour profiles
of Single Malts vary greatly between different
countries, regions and distilleries.

BLENDED WHISKY
Blended whiskies are a mix of single malt whisky and grain whisky (made from grains other than barley), and account for more than 90% of all
Scotch sales worldwide.
The Single Malt purists will try to argue that Blends are inferior to Single Malts, however that could not be further from the truth. Blending is a complicated process and an art, with Master Blenders and their unique skills highly respected globally across the industry. As a process, blending gives an opportunity
to create more balanced, softer whisky flavours, and encourages creativity and experimentation, which is likely to be part of the reason of its worldwide success.

IRISH WHISKEY
Irish Whiskey was once the most popular whiskey in the world, with numerous distilleries. However, since most of the product was made for export, the industry was greatly affected by the Prohibition in the USA, leaving only 2 Irish distilleries in business at the time.
Irish whiskey is made from both malted and unmalted barley – famously, this was the Irish way to avoid some of the taxes imposed by Britain on Single Malt whisky back in the day.
Partially for this reason, Irish whiskey has a smoother finish in comparison to Scotch whisky, though there are many regional varieties and exceptions.
The industry is currently undergoing a resurgence, with 42 active distilleries in Ireland in 2022.

AMERICAN WHISKEY
American Whiskey is a diverse category that encompasses many different styles, but Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey tend to dominate the market.
One of the key differences between these and other whiskeys worldwide is that the majority of the raw material used is corn (at least 51%).
This explains why bourbons are much sweeter than their foreign counterparts, with hints of banana, even though no sugar (or bananas!) are added to the whiskey making process at any stage.
The only difference between Bourbon and Tennessee whiskeyis that the latter undergoes an additional step of charcoal filtering. This ensures that the resulting product is a whiskey smooth as it can be, with a gentle finish.