Whiskey Flashcards
What are the 5 regions of Scotch production?
- Highland
- Lowland
- Speyside
- Campbeltown
- Islay
What are the hallmarks of Canadian whiskey?
- high rye percentage (usually)
- usually blended
- must age 3 years
What is the largest region of production in Scotland?
Highland
What are the only 3 distilleries in Campbeltown?
- Glen Scotia
- Glengyle
- Springbank
What is the min age requirement for Irish whiskey?
3 years (7 is common)
What is ‘straight’ bourbon?
- aged 2 years
- no added colors/flavors
What is the base of Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey?
100% corn
What is the difference between Hibiki and Yamazaki?
- Hibiki are blended
- Yamazaki are single malt
What defines a single grain Scotch?
- produced at one distillery
- made with unmalted barley, wheat, or corn
What percentage of Bourbon is produced in Kentucky?
95%
What region produces the lightest and least smoky style of Scotch?
Lowland
What is the age requirement for Scotch?
min 3 years (much longer is common)
Which region is home to over half of Scotland’s distilleries?
Speyside
Where is Highland Park distillery located?
Orkney
Name 2 producers of Islay whisky
- Laguvulin
- Laphroiag
- Caol Ila
- Ardbeg
What 4 islands are included in the Highland region of Scotch production?
- Skye
- Jura
- Mull
- Orkney
List a Lowland Scotch
- Glenkinchie
- Auchentoshan
- Bladnoch
What Scotch region produces the most peaty and smoky whisky?
Islay
What are the 5 categories of Scotch?
single malt
- made from malted barley
- distilled in a pot still at a single distillery
single grain
- may include un-malted barley and other grains such as wheat and corn
- must be distilled at single distillery
blended malt
- blend of malt whiskies
- different distilleries
blended grain
- blend of 2 or more grain whiskies
- different distilleries
blended
- mixture of malt and grain whiskies from multiple distilleries
List 2 Highland Scotch producers
- Oban
- Glenmorangie
- Dalwhinnie
- Dalmore
What is unique about Irish whiskey?
use of unmalted barley (due to historic English taxes)
How many times must Scotch be distilled?
2 times (pot still)
List a Speyside Scotch
- Glenlivet
- Glenfiddich
- Macallan
- Balvenie
Who distilled the first whiskey in Kentucky (1789)?
Rev Elijah Craig
What are the requirements to be labeled Bourbon?
- min 51% corn
- aged in charred new oak cask
- must state age length on bottle is aged less than 4 years
What are the requirements to be labeled Tennessee whiskey?
- manufactured in TN
- must be maple charcoal filtered prior to aging
What are the 2 most well known producers of Tennessee whiskey?
- Jack Daniels
- George Dickel
Describe sour mash
a portion of spent mash is incorporated into newly fermented mash
What is the requirement to be labeled rye whiskey?
- min 51% rye
- aged in charred new oak barrels min 2 years
What are the requirements to be labeled corn whiskey?
- min 80% corn
- unaged or aged in uncharred new barrels
What is the min abv for Scotch?
40%
Why are most whiskies not aged longer that 32 years?
evaporation over time would weaken the spirit too much to meet legal abv min
List the 5 major Scotch producing Islands
- Skye
- Jura
- Mull
- Arran
- Orkney
What is the most well regarded Scotch on the Island of Skye?
Talisker
What is wood finishing in Scotch production?
- developing whiskey ss transferred to a different cask for the last 2-3 years of its aging
- softens and adds frutiness
- Port, Sherry, Madeira, Burgundy, and Sauternes barrels used
What are the 3 major distilleries in Ireland?
- Old Bushmills
- Cooley
- New Middleton (Jameson)
What is the northernmost distillery in Scotland?
Highland Park (Orkney)
What do the terms Glenn and Furth mean?
glenn - hillside/ field
furth - water source (like a fjord)
What is the organization “Keeper of the Quaich” in Scotland?
producer organization that promotes Scotch
Name 3 whiskies made at the New Middelton distillery
- Jameson
- Redbreast
- Blue/Green/Red/Yellow Spot
- Powers
- Paddy
- Middleton Very Rare
Why do rickhouses have dirt floors?
to maintain humidity levels
Where is the most prized water found in Ireland for whiskey?
- Bush River
- St Columb’s Rill tributary
What is the oldest whiskey distillery in the world?
Old Bushmills (1608)
What bottlings are found in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection?
- William Larue Weller
- Sazerac Rye 18
- Thomas Handy Rye
- George T Stagg
- Eagle Rare 17
What was the first single barrel Bourbon?
Blantons
What is the oldest distillery in the USA?
Buffalo Trace
What is produced in Port Charlotte?
Scotch
Where is the Glenora distillery? What style of whisky do they specialize in?
- Cape Breton Island of Nova Scotia
- malt whisky in the style of Scotch
How many times must Irish whiskey be distilled?
3 times
What is Connemara?
A peat-fired, Single Malt Irish whiskey produced by Cooley
What are two producers that are pioneers of the wood-finished style?
- Glenmorangie
- Balvenie
Speyside uses water from what river for its production?
River Spey
What is the oldest commercial distillery in Scotland?
Glenturret (est 1775)
What is the Gaelic word for Water of Life (scotch)?
uisge beatha (ish-ka ba-ha)
What are the requirements for the new American Single Malt Whiskey designation (2024)?
- 100% malted barley
- single distillery in the US
- distilled to max 160 proof
- must be stored in oak barrels (max capacity 700 L, used, charred new, or uncharred new))
- bottled at min 40% abv
- if aged for min 2 years, can be labeled “Straight”
