Whiskey
Whiskey [whiskey] [from the Gaelic
for "water of life" ], spirituous liquor distilled from a fermented
mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn. Inferior whiskeys
are made from potatoes, beets, and other roots.
The standard whiskeys of the world
are Scotch (commonly spelled whisky ), Irish, American, and Canadian.
The Scotch Highland whisky (made in
pot stills) and that of the Lowlands (patent stills) differ in the percentage
of barley used, quality of the water, quantity of peat employed in curing the
malt, manner of distilling, and kind of casks in which they are matured.
Irish whiskey resembles Scotch, but
no peat is used in the curing, and instead of the dry, somewhat smoky flavor of
Scotch, it has a full, sweet taste.
American whiskeys are divided into
two main varieties, rye and bourbon, a corn whiskey that derives its name from
Bourbon co., Ky. They have a higher flavor and a much deeper color than Scotch
or Irish and require from two to three years longer to mature.
Newly made whiskey is colorless, the
rich brown of the matured liquor being acquired from the cask in which it is
stored.
Canadian whiskey has a
characteristic lightness of body and must, according to law, be produced from
cereal grain only.
Whiskey was made in England in the
11th cent., chiefly in monasteries, but in the 16th cent. distilling was
carried on commercially. No whiskey can be released from bond in Great Britain
until it has matured in wood at least three years, and in practice most whiskey
is stored seven or eight years before marketing.
In the United States bonded whiskey
must stay a minimum of four years in bond before it can be labeled as bonded
rye or bourbon. The illicit manufacture of whiskey to avoid payment of excise
taxes has been common. In the United States this is known as moonshining.
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