Whisky-Pedia

Saucyman – What is the difference between scotch and bourbon? They’re both whiskeys right? Red Wine Drinker

Yes and no, they are both whiskeys in the dictionary sense – a spirit distilled from a malted grain. Scotch always designates itself with the w-h-i-s-k-y spelling, a derivative of the Gaelic, Uisge Beatha or water of life. Bourbon is a w-h-i-s-k-e-y, except when it isn’t, such as Forester or Maker’s Mark Whisky. In spite of tasting nothing alike, they do share similarities: Both are distilled from cereal grains & aged in oak barrels - resulting in a lovely, lovely brown hue (there ought to be a J.Crew sweater called ‘whisky’), and by law both must be aged years before being bottled.

Rather than compare and contrast, today’s post will cover what makes Scotch Scotch. The middle of the week will cover the different styles of Scotch – Highland, Lowland, Isle, Blended, Single Malt and we’ll close out the entry as I sauce poetic on my favorite of all brown liquors, Bourbon.

Scottish style whiskys are made all over the world – In the film, Lost in Translation, Bill Murray’s Bob Harris character was in Tokyo to promote a premium Japanese ‘Scotch’. Here in Oregon, we have an extra-way peaty liquor called McCarthy’s made by Portland spirit manufacturer, Steve McCarthy at his Clear Creek Distillery. But no matter the quality or fealty to the tradition, to be a true Scotch, a legal Scotch, the whisky must come from Scotland.

Besides being more Scottish than Sean Connery, Scotch Whisky is different than other aged distilled liquors - it involves only 3 primary components: Water, Barley and Peat. Water is pretty straight forward but there does seem to be a rationalization process: Many craft distillers find themselves located in mountainous areas near a water head - before the stream, river or lake water has much of a chance to experience industrial or agricultural run-offs.

Of the big 3 ingredients, barley is arguably the component that differentiates Scotch whisky from other styles of whiskEy. Barley, specifically a grass, is thought of as a cereal (specifically that would mean grape nuts but here it is meant in the general usage - a grain used for food) when it is not being thought of as animal fodder. For whisky production, barley is malted by steeping it in water, allowing the grain to germinate. Malting releases enzymes that aid the conversion of barley’s stored energy – starch - into fermentable sugars. Once the proper level of sweetness has been reached, the germination is halted by drying the barley. This is done mostly in kilns but some of the sprouted barley will be dried over a peat fire.

While malted barley may be the character of Scotch, peat is its personality. Peat is an organic (carbon-based, not chemical free) compound made of decomposed vegetable matter. It forms at the glacial rate of a ½ inch per year. Traditionally peat was cut into blocks and burned as fuel in rural Scotland. Not horribly efficient, it was by in large replaced by coal when railroads and industrialization linked Scotland, Wales and England together in the 19th Century. While no longer heating homes or firing stills, peat is an important component in the making of Scotch Whisky. It has a high moisture content and burns at a low temperature, resulting in smoke - using peat to end the malting process imbues a grassy/smoky/vegetal flavor in the final product.

After malting, most Scotch Whiskies (not Scotchs or Scotches) are double distilled (although Lowland distilleries are occasionally triple distilled), then racked in oak barrels. Traditionally, spent sherry casks/barrels were used for this maturation process, but as long as the wood is oak bourbon, Madeira, cognac or wine barrels can be used to age the Scotch. The legal requirement is a minimum of 3 years in wood, but 8 is the minimum for a good sippin’ whisky and 12 years is pretty much the gold standard for Scotch.

Next Entry: Saucyman will cover the different styles of Scotch.