The process of making highland malt whisky

Distinctive
A highland malt whisky is distinctive for good reason. Each one of its ingredients has a taste that's unique to the geographical area. Furthermore, the whisky makers use distillation techniques and appliances that in some cases are decades, if not centuries, old.

Nonetheless, there are common factors in making malt whisky. Understanding these, and appreciating the effort that goes into producing each bottle, makes whisky drinking an even greater pleasure.

Basic ingredients
The ingredients of highland malt whisky are water, barley and yeast.

The water often comes from a distillery's own spring. The water's derivation and mineral content help give the finished whisky its local character.

The barley is critical to the whisky's success. Distillers spend some time choosing the barley that they feel best meets their quality standards. They use similar care choosing the final ingredient, the yeast.

Malting
The distiller first malts the barley by soaking it in water. This continues for 2 - 3 days. The distiller then puts the barley to one side in a controlled environment. The barley germinates and creates enzymes essential for the distillation process.

The distiller now grinds the barley into flour, puts it in a vessel known as a mash tun, and adds hot water. This process releases the barley's natural sugars.

Wort
The result is a sweet-tasting liquid called wort. The distiller transfers this to a washback, a large container made of metal or wood. An exact amount of yeast suitable for the highland malt whisky then joins the wort in the washback.

The addition of the yeast encourages fermentation. The distiller keeps a close eye on the interaction of the yeast with the wort because this is the point at which alcohol first appears.

Distillation
The term used for the alcoholic liquid that results from fermentation is the wash. It's the wash that now goes through the distillation process in the stills - the large copper kettles most commonly associated with a distillery.

Essentially, distillation involves boiling the wash. This creates a vapour that the distiller draws off through the neck of the copper kettle. After leaving the neck, the vapour cools and once again becomes liquid.

The number of times the liquid goes through a kettle may vary. But once the process is complete, the distiller seals it in wooden casks.

After an appropriate number of years maturing in the casks, the distiller finally bottles the liquid. The result is a highland malt whisky, made for your enjoyment.

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