The stages involved in whisky making are numerous. Here is a schematic highlighting eight of them. MALTING, KILNING, MILLING, MASHING, FERMENTATION, DISTILLATION, MATURATION and our favourite one…. LIBATION! Each stage of whisky making is intrinsic to the whole....
Why Oak? Oak is one of the hardest and most durable timbers. It’s Latin name, Quercus robur, means strength – think “robust”. Oak grows from the outside in – a new ring grows around the trunk of the tree, just under the bark, and is...
Steeping of barley is very important in the germination process. If the endosperm tissue is not properly hydrated it won’t modify well. Various parts of the grain uptake moisure at different rates. The barley grain is made up of endosperm, germ, root and shoot,...
Hand cutting peats is the most environmentally friendly way for us to use this precious land to flavour our whiskies. You slice off the top layer of grasses, heather, bog cotton and other plants, with a sharp flat spade, and place this layer on top of the raw exposed...
Ardbeg Distillery has a purifier on their spirit still. Not many stills have such a thing. What is this? Basically it is a small copper pot on the underside of the lyne arm between the still and the condenser. Some of the heavier vapours which have risen up the still...
The chemistry of the formation of flavour compounds is complex, and becomes increasingly so as kilning temperatures are raised. “Linoleic acid (18:2) is the most abundant fatty acid present in the barley grain, and malt contains two lipoxygenase enzymes that...
