Friday Factoids (2006.04)

January 27, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Continuing the scotch theme, here are some whisky-related factoids:

The term “scotch” refers to the drink – people from Scotland are Scots and things are Scottish, but the whisky is Scotch.
Whisky is the generic spelling; the Irish variant is whiskey (with an “e”).
The Gaelic “usquebaugh”, meaning “Water of Life”, phonetically became “usky” and then “whisky” in English.
A single malt whisky comes from a single distillery (not necessarily a single distillation) using malted barley as the only grain ingredient.
Vatted malts are blended from a number of different single malt whiskies, whereas blended whisky can contain other (non-malt) grains.
By law, Scotch whisky must be matured for a minimum of three years in casks; the minimum age for a bottled single malt is eight years.
As whisky matures a proportion evaporates; called the angels’ share, it can account for over 50% on older barrels.
Most whisky is matured in bourbon casks, but sherry, port and other types are also used, each imparting different flavours and colours.
Rumour has it that Laphroaig was the only whisky that still could be sold legally by apothecaries during the prohibition that plagued the US in the 1920′s, because of its medicinal taste.
Chemists have identified more than 300 chemicals that make up the complex flavour of whisky.
The Single Malt Scotch Whisky (SMSW) site has maps of the different regions.
MaltMadness has a handy pronunciation guide for those stange Scottish names