What is Whiskey?

Whiskey is a generic categorical term like vehicle. So, whiskey just means grain alcohol, aged.

How you age it, depends on the country. How long you age it and requirements also depends on the country. The grain to be processed also changes the name of the product. So the name is going to change based on where it's from or based on what it's being made out of. Whiskey or Whisky, it has to do with the country of origin.

Whiskey just comes from the term “uisce beatha” which just means water of life in Gaelic.

And it was shorted to uisce, and then whisky with no E. Early English variants boiled down to “usuebaugh” and “whiskybae” and term Whisky is actually an abbreviation of the latter.

Then the Irish, in order to distinguish their product on the market, added an “E”.

“E” just was added as a marketing differentiator. So if the country making the whiskey has its origin in Irish whiskey, then they'll add an “E”.

Traditionally, almost all whiskey is made from four grains. There's the one off doing weird things, but the majority of whiskey is either corn, barley, rye, or wheat or any combination of those four. If it's malt whiskey, it almost always means all barley. In America, there's no legal requirement to have all barley in malt whiskey; but it very often does mean it is barley. In Scotland, if it's a malt it has to be all barley.

Grain whiskey traditionally, in UK, just means a mix of grains.

 When you get alcohol out of the grains, you basically are creating ethanol. It's just a clear spirit, looks like vodka, totally clear. It's only when you add aging and wood, that it gets all the color. Now different countries have rules on whether you can add things like fake coloring or not. And what type of wood you can use and so forth. For example, Scotland allows a little bit of caramel coloring.

 Now let’s talk about Whiskey naming convention. Remember whiskey, just means whiskey.

Stores will call this mash bill. A mash bill is a definition of the recipe you use of your proportions of grain. 5% malted barley, 60% corn, and 20 percent rye and so on.

Bourbon, legally is at least 51% corn. If it's under 51% corn, it can't be called bourbon.

You can make a bourbon anywhere in the United States, although most people from Kentucky will argue

Rye, on the other hand, means 51% rye. Irish Whiskey traditionally is a single malt, so that means it's all barley.

 In Scotland, you've got five different kinds of labels that could be on a bottle. You also have five regions of whiskey in Scotland but that's a different story. It can be broken down into mom, dad, and the three kids.

Single malt is the “Dad” and that is one type of grain distilled and then aged in a barrel. Single grain is the “Mom”. Single is not a descriptor of grain. Single is not an adjective describing malt. They're two words talking about two different things. Single simply means one distillery. Malt and Grain are the recipe. There are three other products. If you have a whiskey that's made up of two dads, then you have now a blended malt. If you have two moms, you have a blended grain. If you have one mom and one dad, you're now a blended Scotch, also known as the cheapest category of Scottish whiskey.

Ireland has a very traditional way of making whiskey that's a single pot still and single malts and then the blended grains came later in history. But one of the things that is a trademark

Irish whiskey flavor is a percentage of un-malted barley which results in a very unique flavor.

Historically it was their way to cheat the English tax system. The English tried to tax them out of existence, and they started taxing malted barley. So the Irish said we're going to start using un-malted barley percentages, cut down on the tax liability, and make the same amount of whiskey.

Malted means that you have gone through the process that lets the grain trick it into growing

and breaks down the starches while un-malted just means you took it straight from the plant and you haven't done anything but grind it up.

 Let’s finish with rye. Rye is usually smoother and sweeter than most Bourbon. That’s why a lot of bourbons will use a higher percentage of rye grain to mellow out the corn so you get high rye bourbon which means the next most grain is rye.

 Term “Slainte!”  means is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man which meaning is "health" in Irish and Scottish Gaelic.