There’s a possibility you drink whiskey (only the US and Ireland spell it with the ‘e’) from time to time, and you don’t spend much time wondering what it’s made from. Why would you? You’re too busy enjoying the epic peppery rye spice, herbal, and vanilla notes of a well-made rye whiskey while you sit on a back deck on a cool evening. Or perhaps the sweet, caramel corn, oaky flavors of a long-aged bourbon whiskey as you sit around a roaring campfire surrounded by friends and family.
But maybe in between sips of your favorite whiskey, you do wonder what it’s made from. Sure, you can enjoy the spirit without knowing where it comes from, but wouldn’t that single malt Scotch, bourbon, or Irish whiskey taste even better if you knew its starting point? We think so.
In the simplest terms, whiskey is a form of alcohol made with grain, water, and yeast. The process begins by fermenting grain mash (corn, barley, rice, or other grains, depending on the type of whiskey). It’s then distilled before being aged in wooden barrels (often charred oak). And while this is a simplification of the whole process, there’s so much more to this aged, nuanced form of liquor.
The mash
While there are many different types of whiskey, each with its processes and specific mash bill (bourbon needs to be at least 51% corn, for example), the steps used to craft them are very similar. To create the mash, the grains are milled to create something similar to flour. It’s then mixed with hot water in a mash tun (made from metal or wood). This process is how the starch is converted to sugar.
Once this process is complete, it’s moved to a washback for fermentation. This is when the distillers add the yeast to convert the sugars to the alcohol that we all love and crave. Without yeast, we’d simply have a sweet, booze-free, watery beverage that nobody would be happy with. After fermentation, the distiller’s beer or wash is around 8-10% ABV depending on the yeast and how long the process is.
Distillation
This is the point in the process when whiskey is distilled. In the most basic sense, distillation consists of heating the fermented mash in a still to vaporize it so it passes through a condenser and is turned back into a high-proof liquid. Depending on the type of whiskey, it’s distilled in a column or pot still two, three, or more times. The distilling process creates a clear, unaged spirit that falls around 60-70% ABV. Water is often added to prove the whiskey down before barreling (unless it’s a cask-strength whiskey).
Aging
After distillation, you can immediately bottle the spirit if you want to. It wouldn’t be whiskey, though. It would be moonshine or white whiskey. To be considered a whiskey, it must be matured in wood barrels. These barrels are most often toasted or charred to impart flavors like vanilla, caramel, oak, and spices to the whiskey. The number of years a whiskey spends again depends on the style of whiskey. Bourbon must be matured for at least two years to be considered a straight bourbon (but most are aged at least four years). Single malt Scotch whisky must be matured for at least three full years.
How to drink whiskey
There’s no easy answer to this. If you were to ask us, we’d tell you that there’s no wrong way to drink whiskey. Sure, you’d probably want to use a lesser-quality whiskey as a mixer. But we’re not here to tell you not to mix a complex, nuanced bourbon or single malt Scotch into a cocktail if that’s what you want to do. Drink it neat, mix it with it, and enjoy it as you please. Who are we to judge? The only thing we will say is that you should probably sip that twenty-year-old Scotch or bourbon neat instead of mixing it with other flavors to mask it. Otherwise, why would you send the money to buy it?
Bottom line
As you can see, making whiskey is no easy task. There are a handful of important steps needed to craft bourbon, single malt scotch whisky, rye whiskey, and every other type of whiskey. And while you can do most of them in a few days, there’s one thing that you need time for. You can’t age a whiskey overnight (unless you have a wild-eyed scientist friend and a souped-up DeLorean). It takes years to give it the complex, rich, memorable flavors you enjoy. We think it’s well worth the wait.
