the pirate diaries: what is scotch

Hello again and welcome to the 2nd instalment of the pirate diaries.

Today I'm going to talk about a new spirit passion of mine and that is Scotch Whiskey. It's taken me awhile to jump on the Scotch Whiskey bandwagon but hey better late than never. There's a reason it's so popular and today I hope to educate you all as to why that is.

Firstly I’ll start with the basics.

What is Scotch?

- It’s a type of Whiskey made in Scotland.

- It’s made from either Barley (Malted), Wheat, Oats or Corn (Blended).

- It must be aged a minimum of 3 years.

- It’s aged in either old oak barrels (usually ex bourbon) or ex Sherry barrels

You still with me? Pretty straight forward stuff.

Now a little history.

Scotch was first being produced somewhere around 1494, where Friars and monks were distilling grains for the use of medicines. It wasn’t until the late 16th century that Scotch would become a “Social Lubricant”…hehe lubricant! (couldn’t help myself).

By the 18th Century however, regional Scotch production was starting to take shape, by which Lowland and Highland styles were beginning to emerge.

Lowland Scotch production at this time was done in more of a need versus quality scale as most that was being distilled was of low quality. Large distilleries were created to supply a growing demand in England. It was also in this region where a large amount of distilled spirit was being exported to England to be rectified into gin.

Highland Scotch on the other hand was of higher quality as it was still being made in smaller pot stills and double distilled. However, due to new legislation in which taxes and policing were being implemented on pot distillation, most Highland Scotch would be banned by the early 19th century. (Where were lobby groups at this time…sheesh!)

However, this rule as bad as it was did influence the current Scotch production we see today as it forced farmers in regions such as Islay and Speyside to go underground per se with their production as it was there only means of paying rent. This is why you’ll notice that most Scotch producing regions are located in the corners of Scotland where it was harder to police them. (And the common man wins for a change…yeah!)

By 1823 a new Excise Act would be passed where the use of small stills would be allowed again. With it came the start of the modern Scotch whiskey industry. (Pheff we made it!)

The leap to world domination came with the invention of the continuous (Coffee) still in 1827 and (as I previously wrote last week) with Phylloxera.

Now some interesting facts:

Scotch can be made into either:

– Single Malt – only comes from one distillery

– Blended Malt – multiple distilleries

– Grain Whiskey - made from 90% wheat or corn and 10% malted barley for enzymes

Malted Scotch is made from just 3 ingredients: Barley, Water and Yeast

Malting is a process of changing starches into fermentable sugars by tricking the grain to start growing.

- All the colour in Scotch comes from ageing

- Age distinctions on bottles reflects the youngest spirit put in the bottle

- There are 4 major producing regions: Highlands, Speyside, Islay and Lowlands/Campbeltown

Okay that should be enough for today, next week I’ll focus on how Scotch is made and what exactly is distillation.

Okay I go now but before I do I’ll leave you with my Cocktail of the week and a little trivia. See you next week.

Maverick

1.5 oz El Dorado 15 year Rum
0.5 oz Port (any will do but I use Taylor 10 year)
0.5 oz Giffard Creme de Peche (I love this stuff)
5 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange Twist

In a mixing glass combine all ingredients, stir well for 20 seconds, serve in chilled cocktail glass. garnish with orange twist. The rich Demerara Rum proves a great base for the port and peche. This is a rich full flavoured cocktail.

Trivia: Did you know that a little Highland Park 18 year is found in the Famous Grouse Blend…WTF??? Cool huh!