The basics of whiskey
The spirit is distilled from grain mash, usually barley, and matured in wooden barrels. Among the best-known Scottish varieties are blended whisky, blended malt whisky, and single malt whisky. A blend is a blended whisky, i.e., a mixture of different varieties. The famous single malt whisky, on the other hand, comes from only one distillery.
Single cask whisky is considered a particularly fine Scottish spirit. Each production batch has its own individual taste, as this single malt comes not only from a single distillery, but also from a single cask. It is precisely because of its purity that single cask whisky is particularly popular.
The Scotch Whisky Regulations define what can be called "Scotch": a whisky from a Scottish distillery made from malted barley. Apart from water and flavorless caramel coloring, Scotch must not contain anything else. In addition, it must be stored on site for three years in oak barrels with a maximum capacity of 700 liters before bottling.
The best-known American whiskey is "bourbon." It is distilled from 51 percent corn and must be aged for at least two years. In most cases, the aging period is not indicated on bottled bourbon whiskey. American Rey whiskey is also widely available. It is spicier than bourbon and consists of at least 51 percent rye.
If you want to move from the theory of the "golden drink" to practice, you should definitely try one or more of the 20 or so varieties at the Vier Jahreszeiten am Schluchsee.
