Background
Whiskey (often spelled whisky in Canada and Scotland) is a distilled spirit produced from fermented grain and aged in wood. A spirit refers to any alcoholic beverage in which the alcohol content has been increased through distillation. Other spirits include brandy (distilled from wine), rum (distilled from sugarcane juice or molasses), vodka (distilled from grain without aging), and gin (also distilled from grain without aging but flavored with juniper berries and other ingredients).
Undistilled alcoholic beverages such as mead, wine, and beer have been produced since at least 7000 BC. The process of distillation, which involves heating an alcoholic beverage to vaporize, collect, and concentrate the alcohol, was first used in China no later than 800 BC to produce rice spirits. In other parts of Asia around the same time, distillation was used to produce arrack, a beverage similar to rum made from rice, sugarcane juice, or palm juice. The ancient Arabs, Greeks, and Romans also distilled wine to create beverages similar to modern brandy. The practice of distillation spread to western Europe with the Arabs in the 8th century, particularly in Spain and France.
The exact origins of the first grain spirits are unknown, but they were certainly present in Europe no later than 500 years ago. Some claim that whiskey was invented in Ireland as early as 1000 years ago and then brought to Scotland by monks. Regardless, the earliest written records of Scottish whiskey-making date back to 1494. (The term “whiskey” comes from the Irish Gaelic uisge beatha or the Scottish Gaelic uisge baugh, both meaning “water of life.”)
Spirits were brought to the New World by the earliest European settlers. Rum was distilled in New England in the early 17th century, and distillation also took place in New York as early as 1640. Whiskey-making became an important industry in the western part of the American colonies, particularly in western Pennsylvania, during the early 18th century. Farmers faced challenges in storing their perishable grains and transporting them to distant eastern cities. It was much simpler to turn the grains into whiskey, which could be stored for years and transported more easily.
Whiskey played a significant role in the early history of the United States, especially during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Western Pennsylvania farmers resisted paying an unpopular tax on whiskey and attacked federal officers who attempted to collect it. After a group of 500 armed rebels burned down the home of a local tax inspector, President George Washington sent in 13,000 troops to suppress the uprising. The rebellion ended peacefully, establishing the power of the federal government. Many whiskey-makers moved westward to escape federal authority, settling in southern Indiana and Kentucky, areas that are still renowned for their whiskey production.
American whiskey production peaked in 1911 when approximately 400 million liters were produced, a record not surpassed until after Prohibition. On November 16, 1920, the Volstead Act became the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, halting legal American whiskey production until its repeal on December 5, 1933. Production reached another peak in 1951, with approximately 800 million liters produced. Today, around 400 million liters of whiskey are produced each year.
The earliest distillation devices consisted of a closed, heated container, a long tube (known as a condenser) to cool and condense the alcohol vapor, and a receptacle to collect the alcohol. These devices were later refined into pot stills, where alcohol vapor from a heated copper pot condensed in a helical, water-cooled copper tube called a worm. Pot stills are still commonly used to produce whiskey in Scotland and Ireland and brandy in France. In 1826, Robert Stein of Scotland invented continuous distillation, which allowed for continuous distillation instead of batch by batch. This process was further improved by Irishman Aeneas Coffey in 1831 and remains the method used for most mass-produced whiskey today.
Whiskey is popular worldwide and is produced in nearly every country. The United States produces and consumes more whiskey than any other nation, but Scotch whiskey, often referred to as Scotch, remains the most renowned variety.
ACE Copper Whiskey Distillation Equipment
Raw Materials
Whiskey is made from water, yeast, and grain. The quality of water used in whiskey production is considered crucial. It should be clean, clear, and free from undesirable impurities like iron. In the United States, water with high carbonates, found in limestone-rich areas, is often used, especially in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. Scottish water is also well-known for its suitability in whiskey production, although the reasons behind this remain somewhat mysterious.
Every whiskey distillery maintains a supply of yeast, which is cultivated on barley malt and kept free from bacterial contamination. Some distilleries use multiple types of yeast to precisely control the fermentation process.
The choice of grain varies depending on the type of whiskey being made, but all whiskeys contain at least a small amount of malted barley, which is necessary to initiate fermentation. Scotch malt whiskey is exclusively made from barley. Other whiskeys combine barley with corn, wheat, oats, and/or rye. Corn whiskey must have a minimum of 80% corn, while Bourbon whiskey and Tennessee whiskey must contain at least 51% corn. Rye whiskey must contain at least 51% rye, and wheat whiskey must contain at least 51% wheat.
Straight whiskeys consist solely of these ingredients, but blended whiskeys may include small amounts of additives such as caramel color and sherry.
