Dan's Papers - October 13, 2006 - Getting Frisky With Whiskey

All whiskey is not created equal. In fact, whiskey may be one of the most confusing categories of hard alcohol simply because of its broad range; from Old Crow to 12-year Dalwhinnie, from Jim Beam to Johnny Walker Blue, "whiskey" covers sweet to smoky, Scotch to bourbon, and everything in between.

In 750 words, I have the task of summing up 2800 years of history, inter-continental evolution and jurisdiction. I spent a year in Scotland, trying to unearth the facts and history of whiskey, what makes a Scotch a Scotch, what makes a blend, what makes Irish whiskey different and how come Jack Daniels doesn't taste anything like anything on the opposite side of the Atlantic. This is the best I can come up with.

Basically, we have the Celts to thank for the fermentation and distillation of grains (barley, rye) as far back as 800 BC. That's right, about 400 years before the Greeks came up with the Hippocratic Oath, the Scots, Irish, Welsh, and Cornish were using whiskey to heal the sick and revive the dead.

As far as breaking up the differences in the "water of life," I am going to be rather broad, because separating the differences between Highland and Island Scotch is enough for its own article. So here are the basics.

Scotch must be made in Scotland. It is as simple as that. And for the most part, the barley used for creating the mash is dried through the use of a peat fire. As gross as it sounds, peat is decomposed plant matter that becomes a solid. It is used throughout the UK and Ireland as a source of heat. But, for the creation of whiskey, it is a distinctly Scottish thing. This drying on a peat fire gives Scotch the smoky flavor it is known for (though sometimes, as in the case of Tobermory, from the Isle of Mull, the barley is dried on a clean fire, because the water used in the fermentation process travels through peat bogs, picking up the delicate flavors of the peat). Also, for the most part, Scotch whiskey is distilled twice, removing a good deal of impurities from the final spirit.

But distilling only twice is blasphemy when it comes to the Irish. The Old Bushmill distillery makes an issue of informing their visitors that they distill their whiskey three times. They claim that this removes much of the impurities that the double distillation of Scotch does not. Also setting Irish and Scotch whiskey apart, Irish whiskey-making technique demands that the barley be dried over a clean burning fire, not a smoky peat fire. Both the triple distillation and the clean fire lead to a "smoother-tasting" spirit.

Canadian Whiskey is generally disgusting and I don't even want to waste my time on it, though I must say, Yukon Jack has a truly unique flavor, far from any other whiskey on the market and it is a personal favorite of mine. Besides that, the only thing you should know is that many Canadian distilleries are affiliated with Scottish distilleries, and follow a similar process, but end up with an inferior product.

American whiskey is an institution all its own. How Jim Beam can be classified as whiskey when compared to Talisker is puzzling, but they all fall under the broad classification of "whiskey." Generally, we break the American genre down into three categories: bourbon, whiskey and rye. Bourbon (Knob Creek), despite what many believe, does not have to be made in Bourbon County, Kentucky. In fact, today almost no bourbon is made in Bourbon County, but by law, Bourbon must be made in the US and is actually the official spirit of America. It is generally made from at least 51% corn, but the percentage is usually higher, with the rest being made of wheat, rye or barley, and is placed in charred oak barrels for no less than two years to age.

American whiskey, or more specifically Tennessee whiskey (Jack Daniel's) must undergo the Lincoln County Process. This filtering system passes the whiskey through a column of charcoal chips (many vodkas are filtered in a similar fashion), which removes some of the impurities from the spirit. It is then aged in oak barrels, similar to the aging process of Bourbon, but this filtering system sets Tennessee whiskey apart.

What sets Rye whiskey apart from Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey is that it must be made with at least 51% rye (the same grain in rye bread). This is a less popular choice at the bars, but during the Prohibition it was quite the trend.

Sadly, I haven't even gotten to discuss blends and single malts, but with winter bearing down on us, I'll have plenty of time to cozy up to a nice bottle and do some more research.