The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky: Whisky (also "whiskey") – distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used in different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of charred white oak. Whisky is a strictly regulated spirit worldwide. It encompasses many national expressions and variations. The typical unifying characteristics of the different expressions and variations are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden barrels. The spelling whiskey is commonly used in Ireland and the United States, while whisky is used almost exclusively in other whisky-producing countries.
National varieties American whiskeys are distilled from a fermented mash of cereal grain. It must have the taste, aroma, and other characteristics commonly attributed to whisky. American whisky must be distilled to no more than 80% alcohol by volume, and barrelled at no more than 125 proof. Only water may be added to the final product; the addition of colouring or flavouring is prohibited. These whiskies must be aged in new charred-oak containers, except for corn whisky, which does not have to be aged. If it is aged, it must be in uncharred oak barrels or in used barrels. Corn whisky is usually unaged and sold as a legal version of moonshine. Australian whiskies are mainly produced using a very similar process to that of Scottish whisky; however, the flavour of Australian whisky is subtly different. Although the majority of whisky produced in Australia is in the single malt style, there is more variation than that found overseas, with no strict customs or traditions governing the styles produced. Multiple styles of whisky are produced in Australia, including single malt, rye, wheat and blended whisky. Canadian whiskies are usually blended multi-grain whiskies containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles. When Canadian distillers began adding small amounts of highly-flavourful rye grain to their mashes, people began demanding this new rye-flavoured whisky, referring to it simply as "rye". Today, as for the past two centuries, the terms "rye whisky" and "Canadian whisky" are used interchangeably in Canada. English whisky is made from cereal grains, malt and water and includes malt whisky and grain whisky. There are currently 71 whisky distilleries and 20 brands of whisky in England. Finnish whisky French whisky is traditionally made in Brittany from malted buckwheat. Georgian whisky was first made by Georgian wine-maker, co-founder of "Askaneli Brothers", Jimsher Chkhaidze. JIMSHER whisky is made by traditional Scottish method and other Georgia whiskies have followed suit. German whisky resemble those made in Ireland, Scotland and the United States: single malts, blends, wheat, and bourbon-like styles. Indian whiskies are commonly blends based on neutral spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses /Grain with only a small portion consisting of traditional malt whisky, usually about 10 to 12 percent. Outside India, such a drink would more likely be labelled a rum. According to the Scotch Whisky Association's 2013 annual report, "there is no compulsory definition of whisky in India, and the Indian voluntary standard does not require whisky to be distilled from cereals or to be matured." Molasses-based blends make up 90 percent of the spirits consumed as "whisky" in India, Irish whiskey is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish (or 'Gaelic') uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to Scotch whisky, in part due to peating. Peat is rarely used in the malting process elsewhere. There are notable exceptions to these rules in both countries. Japanese whiskies are both single malt and blended whiskies. The base is a mash of malted barley, dried in kilns fired with a little peat (although less than is used for some peated Scotch whiskies), and is distilled using the pot still method. Mexican whisky Scotch whisky (Scottish Gaelic: uisge-beatha na h-Alba; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. It must be made in a manner specified by law. There were 141 Scotch whisky distilleries operating in Scotland. Single malt Scotch must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Single grain Scotch is a Scotch whisky distilled at a single distillery but, in addition to water and malted barley, may involve whole grains of other malted or unmalted cereals. "Single grain" does not mean that only a single type of grain was used to produce the whisky, but that it was distilled at a single distillery. Blended malt Scotch whisky Blended grain Scotch whisky Blended Scotch whisky Taiwanese whisky Welsh whisky
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
