Single malt whiskey is made with only one grain, usually barley, and undergoes a special process. It can be aged for many years, adding to its price and taste. Single malt scotch whiskey must be made in Scotland. It is enjoyed like wine and can be expensive.
Whiskey is an alcoholic beverage produced through a distillation process. It uses different grains to produce a strong-tasting drink, and there are very high-grade and low-grade whiskeys on the market. Some of the more preferable types are called single malt whiskies, and these must be made in a special process and with certain ingredients. It should be noted that whiskey is the most common spelling for Irish and Americans, while others use the whiskey spelling instead.
Unlike blended malt whiskies, a single malt whiskey is made with only one grain, and the most common choice is barley. The average ingredients for a single malt whiskey are simple and few, and most are simply a combination of grain, water and yeast. Malting refers to the way grain is treated to raise sugar levels. It is first soaked in water for about three days, which causes the grains to begin to germinate, and then further growth is stopped by heating the grains to a certain temperature.
Once the grains have gone through the malting process, they are ground and added to water to begin creating the drink. There are several other stages, including the addition of yeast, to begin fermentation. Eventually the whiskey ends up being stored in large vats or casks, where it can continue to age for many years. Although some single malts are sold after three years of aging, which is often considered minimal aging times, others may rest in casks for ten or twenty years, and a longer aging process can add price, reputation and taste.
The phrase single malt also means that the whiskey was made in a distillery, although that doesn’t mean the alcohol was made at the same time. Describing a single malt whiskey from a batch is more specific and is usually referred to as a single batch, or alternatively, whiskey bottled from a cask or cask may be called a single cask. Another distinction is between single malt whiskey and single malt scotch whisky. The use of the term Scotch whiskey is controlled and means that the whiskey had to be made in Scotland.
Given the effort required to create this alcohol, it’s no wonder it has fans who treat it the same way wine is treated by wine aficionados. The various whiskeys produced around the world, especially of the single malt type, can be sampled and enjoyed. The expressions used to describe them may sound similar to wine tasting talk, and certainly at the higher end, a single malt whiskey can be as expensive as some of the best bottles of wine in the world. These alcohols aren’t usually things dumped into mixed drinks, but are instead enjoyed with slow sips that can capture all of the flavor and nuances that develop during the alcohol making and aging processes.
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