E
Spraying hot water onto the grist in a lauter tun to wash the sugars away from the grist solids.
A grain of barley is composed, primarily, of two parts, the endosperm and the embryo. The embryo contains the dormant plant which, when awakened during germination, will feed off the starchy food store in the endosperm.
A grain of barley is composed, primarily, of two parts, the endosperm and the embryo. The endosperm contains the starchy food store which will feed the dormant plant in the embryo when it is awakened during germination.
Complex chemical compounds which help to break down the starch within the endosperm into sugars during germination. See also "Amylase", "Cytase", "Diastase" and "Zymase".
The primary alcohol produced during the fermentation of the yeast (see "Alcohol").
HM Customs and Excise, the branch of the British Civil Service responsible for the collection of duty.
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F
Also known as the tail of the distillation, tails or aftershots. The last cut of the output from the Low Wines or Spirit Still. This liquid is returned back to the Low Wines and Feints Charger for re-distillation as part of the next batch.
(US term) The process of converting the sugars in the wort, by using yeast, into alcohol in the wash whilst in the Washback.
See "Washback".
Land held in perpetuity on payment of a yearly rental.
The newly distilled spirit, in barrels, freshly run off the Low Wines or Spirit Still which is to be allowed to mature into whisky.
Refers to casks that are being filled with whisky for the first time, even though they may have already been used for bourbon or sherry. See also "Refill"
The Floor Maltings consist of one or more floors of the Malt House where barley is spread on the stone floor(s) after steeping and allowed to germinate under controlled conditions. The bed of germinating barley is called the piece and is kept at a depth of 4-6 inches, being regularly turned using wooden shovels called shiels to keep the temperature to not more than about 60°F (16°C). Now largely replaced by centralised drum maltings, usually handling the malting of barley for a number of different distilleries, to their individual recipes.
Also known as the head of the distillation or heads. The first cut of the output from the Low Wines or Spirit Still. This liquid is returned back to the Low Wines and Feints Charger for re-distillation as part of the next batch.
Separation by distillation into component parts.
Flavour compound that gives a burnt taste. Undesirable in large quantities.
One of the heavier alcohols present in the feints, some of which are kept along with the middle cut in order to add character to the spirit.
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G
The old name given to the exciseman whose job it was to put down illicit distillation and smuggling.
The process that takes place in the Floor Maltings where the steeped barley is spread on the floor (the barley is now known as the piece) and allowed to sprout, forming shoots and rootlets, and is left there for about 7 days, tended regularly to keep the temperature constant at about 16°C, upon which time (the barley is now known as green malt) further growth is prevented by the barley being dried in the Kiln.
The seeds of a cereal crop such as maize, corn, rye, wheat, barley, etc.
Whisky that is produced by the patent continuous still method. It differs in a number of ways from malt whisky. The mash consists of a proportion of malted barley together with unmalted cereals such as Wheat or maize. The unmalted cereals are cooked under steam pressure for some 31/2 hours (which causes the starch cells to burst) before they are transfered to the mash tun. The enzymes from the malted barley portion then convert the starch into sugar. The Wort produced in this manner is of a lower specific gravity than in the case of the malt whisky process and the spirit collected from the patent still is of a much higher strength.
Green malt is the name given to the barley that has completed its germination and modification in the Floor Maltings and is ready to be dried in the Kiln.
See "Malt Grist".
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H
Spread over the Kiln floor to prevent the barley dropping into the peat furnace below. In modern distilleries, a metal grating serves the same purpose.
See "Foreshots".
See "Foreshots".
See "Middle Cut".
One of the four whisky-producing regions of Scotland, The Hthe north of the "Highland Boundary Fault Line", roughly a line drawn between DuCity w:st="on">Glasgow (see "Malt Whisky Regions Map", "Highlands Map" , "Speyside Map" and "Islands Map"). It is, by far, the largest group and comprises a number of districts and sub-districts :-
The Western Highlands covering the distilleries on the west coast, around Oban and Fort William.
The Southern Highlands covering the distilleries just north of the "Highland Boundary Fault Line" boundary with the Lowlands, from Alexandria in Dumbartonshire in the south-west to Pitlochry in Perthshire in the north-east.
The Eastern Highlands covering the distilleries on the east coast, from Brechin and Montrose in Angus in the south to Banff in Banffshire in the north.
The Northern Highlands covering the distilleries in the north, from Dalwhinnie in Inverness-shire in the south to Wick in Caithness in the north.
Speyside covering the distilleries to the south of the Moray Firth, from Forres in Morayshire in the west to Huntly in Aberdeenshire in the east to Ballindalloch in Banffshire in the south. Speyside is sub-divided into a very large number of sub-districts : Bogie, Deveron, Dufftown, Fiddich, Findhorn, Inverness, Livet, Lossie, Rothes, Speyside and Strathisla.
The Islands covering the islands off the west and north coast of Scotland. These are the Isles of Arran (Lochranza - Arran Distillery), Jura (Craighouse - Jura Distillery), Mull (Tobermory - Ledaig & Tobermory Distillery), Skye (Carbost - Talisker Distillery) and the Orkney Islands (Kirkwall - Highland Park and Scapa Distilleries).
The Highlands embraces many areas north of the fault line and produces various styles of whisky - from spicy, aromatic whiskies such as Old Pulteney and Balblair in the north, to the fuller, slightly peaty and nutty whiskies of the south (Aberfeldy) and west (Glenlochy), whilst the east coast distilleries, Glenesk and North Port included, produce a lighter, fragrant whisky (compare with "Islay", "Campbeltown" and "Lowlands" region characteristics). As the dividing line is geographic, some Highlands distilleries near the "Highland Boundary Fault Line" show characteristics of the Lowlands region and vice-versa.
(US term) The product of the first distillation in a batch or pot still process. The high wines are distilled for a second time in the spirit still or doubler. Confusingly, in the UK, the product of the first distillation is known as low wines.
See "Casks".
(US term) A mash flavoured by cooked hops in which yeast is propagated.
A floating device, usually made of glass, which gives an indication via a scale on its side of the specific gravity of a liquid in which it is floating. The scale is read at the water/air boundary of the liquid being measured.
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I
A native of the Hebridean island of Islay.
Traditionally, scotch malt whisky is distilled in pot stills which are large, onion-shaped copper retorts used for distilling batches of malt whisky. The Intermediate Still is the still in which the second stage of triple distillation (if triple distillation is used) takes place. Using the output from the wash still as input to the Intermediate Still, the first cut of the output (the foreshots) is returned to be re-distilled next time round and the second stage (the middle cut) and third cut (the feints) goes forward to be re-distilled in the Low Wines or Spirit Still. The second chamber of the three-chamber Spirit Safe is used to direct the flow to the appropriate destination.
International Organisation of Legal Metrology. The EU standard of proof measurement whereby spirit strength is expressed as a percentage of alcohol by volume at 68°F (20°C). 70° proof is 39.9% abv.
(note the "e") is produced in exactly the same way as Scotch malt whisky with the exception that the majority is triple-distilled.
A spirit obtained by distillation from a mash of cereal grains saccharified by the diastase of malt. By law, it cannot be called Irish whiskey unless it has been distilled in Ireland and has matured in an oak cask in Ireland for at least three years.
One of the major districts of the Highlands region, Islands is a grouping of all the whisky-producing islands, with the exception of Islay (which is considered to be a region in its own right), off the west and north coasts of Scotland (see "Malt Whisky Regions Map" and "Islands Map"). The following, equivalent to sub-districts, are the particular islands currently in production :-
The Orkney Isles covering the Highland Park and Scapa distilleries at Kirkwall.
The Isle of Skye covering the Talisker distillery at Carbost.
The Isle of Mull covering the Tobermory and Ledaig distillery at Tobermory.
The Isle of Jura covering the Jura distillery at Craighouse.
The Isle of Arran covering the Arran distillery at Lochranza.
Because of their geographical seperation, the styles from these distilleries varies considerably. Tobermory and Ledaig are both from the same stills at the same distrillery but differ because Tobermory is made from unpeated barley whilst Ledaig is made from peated barley. However, they are all close to the sea which imparts, to one degree or another, a seaweed saltiness to their character.