Whisky Production

01

Barley is soaked in water for several days to encourage germination, then dried in a kiln — sometimes over peat, which imparts a smoky character. Traditional floor malting, where the germinating barley is turned by hand, is still practised at a small number of heritage distilleries.

02

The malted barley is ground into a coarse flour called grist and mixed with hot water in a large vessel called a mash tun. The heat converts the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars, producing a sweet liquid known as wort.

03

The wort is transferred to wooden or stainless steel vessels called washbacks and combined with yeast. Over the next two to four days the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol, producing a coarse beer known as wash, typically around eight per cent alcohol by volume.

04

The wash is distilled in either copper pot stills or continuous column stills. Pot still distillation, typically done twice or three times, produces a spirit of great character. Column distillation is more efficient and produces a lighter, purer spirit often used in blended whisky.

05

The new-make spirit is filled into oak casks and left to mature in a warehouse. Scotch whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years in Scotland; most premium expressions are matured for considerably longer. The cask contributes colour, mellowness and much of the whisky's final character.

06

Once mature, whisky may be blended with other casks, reduced in strength with pure water and, in some cases, filtered before bottling. The care taken at this final stage — from cask selection to bottling strength — has a decisive effect on the finished whisky in the glass.