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What's
Difference Among Whiskeys?
A guy whose name I forgot asked me this on the radio yesterday, after I talked about the American Whiskey Festival that starts today here in New Orleans (see "Under The Table"): What's the difference between American whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch whisky, and Irish whiskey? Tom sez: Let's look at what they have in common first. They're all high-alcohol spirits made by fermenting malted grain (more or less the same first step in making beer), then distilling the alcohol from the mash. The alcohol, which is at that point colorless, goes into toasted oak barrels for a lengthy aging. The last step gived the stuff its color and distinctive smoky taste. The differences come in mostly at the grain level. Scotch (which is spelled "whisky," without the "e," for reasons of no importance) starts with barley that's malted over a peat fire. Depending on the source of the peat, the flavor differs. Scotch is often aged in barrels that were previously used for aging sherry, but they're usually used in any case. Irish whiskey also uses barley, but not the peat fire. So it lacks the distinctive smokiness you find in Scotch, and has a less assertive flavor. American Whiskey (it's called Bourbon if it comes from the old Bourbon County area of Kentucky) is made mostly from corn, with wheat and barley as well. The grains are ground into what looks like grits, fermented, then distilled. By law, all American whiskey must be aged in new oak barrels. They're toasted (looks burned to me) on the inside, and that's what gives the color and the smoky flavor. The differences among individual whiskies come from how long the stuff is aged, what kind of still is used, and thousands of other tweaks applied by the distiller. Revised 3/10/08 Copyright © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. |
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