“YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED THAT MORE AND MORE MILLENIALS ARE ASKING FOR WHISKEYS AND BOURBONS. MIXED DRINKS LIKE THE MANHATTAN HAVE BECOME WILDLY POPULAR.”
ERNEST YELDO Owner, Churchill’s Bistro, Birmingham, MI
WHAT’S the DIFF?
T he Irish spell whiskey with an e while their Scottish counterparts leave it out. The distinction, in addition to being the bane of proofreaders, also offers some important insights into the evolution and history of whisky. Canada, India, and Japan, the three other major whisky producers, also follow the Scottish spelling. Most of the rest of the world has followed suit. The US follows the Irish example and spells whiskey with an e, although there are a number of major excep- tions. George Dickel, Makers Mark, and Old Forest- er all follow the Scottish spelling. In 1860, the Gladstone government passed the Spirits Act. The act allowed whisky blenders, for the first time, to create blends consisting of grain whisky and single malts. At the time, Ireland was the center of the world’s whisky production. Surprised? Irish distillers were producing around 70 percent of the world’s whisky at that time. Blending grain whisky and single malts allowed Scotch whisky blenders to create a style of whisky that was very similar to Irish whiskeys but cheaper to produce. Before long, Scotch whisky was a player on the world stage and overtook Irish whiskey after U.S. prohibition ended in 1933. In order to set them- selves apart, the Irish, for the most part, retained the e in whiskey. But enough about spelling. What makes the world’s varieties different from one another? Whiskey is the main category into which bour- bon and scotch both fall. All bourbons and scotches are whiskey; not all whiskey is bourbon or scotch. You might be surprised, but even savvy whiskey and bourbon drinkers might not know this. All whis- key is spirit made from fermented grain and then aged in barrels. Per the American Bourbon Associ- ation, in order to be classified as bourbon, a whiskey needs to be distilled from a mixture of grains, or mash, that is at least 51 percent corn. As for taste, bourbon tends to be sweeter, while scotch tends to have a more intense smokiness. Bourbon and scotch are identical in terms of nutri- tion. However, they’re made from different grains, which afford them slightly different taste profiles.
Scotch is a whisky that gets its distinctive smoky flavor from the process in which it is made: the grain, primarily barley, is malted and then heated over a peat fire. A whisky cannot be called scotch unless it is entirely produced and bottled in Scotland. Bourbon, a whiskey that was first produced in Kentucky, uses a sour mash process — that is, the mash is fermented with yeast and includes a portion from a mash that has already been fermented. U.S. regulations specify that in order for a whiskey to be called bourbon, it must be made in the United States. So, there is no such thing as an Irish bourbon. That still leaves rye whiskey, a whiskey that uses a rye mash or a rye and malt mash. In the United States, regulations stipulate that the mash must be at least 51 percent rye in order for it to be called rye whiskey. In Canada, regulations do not specify a minimum percentage of rye. However, traditionally Canadians used rye in their whisky, which resulted in the name rye referring to Canadian whisky, re- gardless of the rye content. Many times Canadian whisky will be referred to as rye simply out of tradi- tion, not because it contains 51 percent rye. Flavor-wise, rye is more astringent than the two others, making it particularly suitable to cocktails. The type of barrel in which the liquor is aged will also affect
In Scotland, the cold climate resulted in the de- velopment of a very different distilling tradition. With the harsh winds, trees don’t grow in abun- dance. So, with oak being a rare local resource, Scotland re-used whiskey barrels from the U.S. and sherry barrels from Spain. That’s why Scottish whisky, or scotch, is generally lighter and subtler than American hooch. The scarcity of wood also meant that distillers use peat — a type of decayed vegetation that’s abun- dant in Scotland — as a fuel source when they were drying barley to make whisky. Peat is the source of that smokiness that’s a hallmark of scotch. So the next time you’re sipping your favorite whiskey, make note of its unique flavor and share your knowledge with others. You are now smarter than the average bear!
Dark chocolate and a strong whiskey really complement each other. Dark orange-flavored chocolate is a good choice to experiment with scotch as the citrus note in scotch will really enhance the orange flavor. Milk choc- olates work well with rye whiskeys. Salted hazelnut chocolates go well with single malt Scotch whiskey. American bourbons pair well with almost all kinds of chocolates.
the taste. New oak gives off a
strong, vanil- la-tinged fla- vor, whereas re-using a
barrel results in a more muted effect. In the U.S., where oak is plentiful, new oak barrels are most common.
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