What is more Scottish than Scotch Whiskey?

Last week was a crazy week. I had to unfortunately do work for the first time this semester. Wednesday was consumed by a whiskey distillery tour of anCnoc distillery, and Thursday was enveloped by Saint Patrick day celebrations. This left me Friday to do my homework. It was a fun, but busy week.

The main attraction last week was the distillery tour. I am flabbergasted with the economics and science behind whiskey distilling. Distilling takes approximately 48 hours, but the actual whiskey takes twelve plus years to age in cask. This means distilleries are planning and producing for sales twelve years down the road. Seems to me that there is a fair amount of guess work being used.

I have learned many things about the whiskey business since I have been here.

• The name scotch is reserved only for scotch whiskeys produced in Scotland. The scotch must distilled and aged in Scotland.
  
• Scotch is simply a subset of the whiskey family.
• Twelve year old Scotch means the youngest type of Scotch in the whiskey is twelve years old
  
• Many of the distilleries use American Oak cask because barrels are cheap to acquire. American law requires the bourbon be aged in new oak barrels. Therefore, the used barrels are worthless to bourbon makers.
  
• Whiskey gets it flavoring from the wood and not the actual distilling.
• American Oak, European Oak, and Sherry Cask are used to impart unique flavors
• American oak is famous for its vanilla taste and aroma

I learned so much by visiting the distillery. The whole business really fascinates me. My chemistry minor served me well in understanding the chemical changes happening. The pictures below take you through the scotch making process.
The machine that cracks and then grinds the barley.

The ground barley is then rinsed with water to remove the sugars and enzymes. The water containing sugars and enzymes is then pumped into these giant vats. Yeast is then added to the mixture. The yeast uses the sugars to create alcohol. I could feel the heat on my face from this exothermic reaction.

After fermentation continues for eight hours, the mixture is pumped into the first still. The still heats the mixture, the vapor goes out the top, vapors go through pipes where it is cooled, and the liquid is then collected. The first still is called the wash still. Each still is made completely of copper. The copper reacts with impurities and creates a very distinct whiskey. These stills are known as reflux stills because of the bulge in the neck of the still. This causes a very light spirit to be formed by removing many of the impurities.

The liquid from the wash still is then run through the spirit still. The same process is undergone and the liquid is collected. This is called the spirit.
Here is the warehouse where the cask are aged. The warehouse smelled very strongly of whiskey. This is known as the angels dram because a small portion of the whiskey evaporates each year. I literally felt tipsy after being in this warehouse for five minutes. The most amazing part of the warehouse was the amount of cask. Each row held 32 cask. These cask are rolled manually into place. Each one weighs close 500 pounds.

My experience at the whiskey distillery was amazing. I learned so much about the art and science of distilling whiskey. The final part of the tour was a whiskey tasting. After observing process of whiskey production, I had new found appreciation for the dram I was given. I savored the taste and the aromas all the more as I put the glass to my lips.

I topped off the week on Saint Patrick's day. Thursday I celebrated Saint Patrick's day at the watering hole, the local pub. I enjoyed many a Guinness beer and even got a free hat. It was a great week to say the least!

Best and love,
Nick