Telling Whiskey from Whisky

Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by FabHK on Saturday October 26, 2019 @04:43PM (#21366050)

Indeed. For me the distinction is primarily between Scotch whisky (which is peated and smoky, particularly Islay), and Irish whiskey (not peated (except Connemara), but smooth). American whiskeys (bourbon, rye, etc) are not really my cup of tea, though I’m sure there’s some good stuff out there.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by anfractuosity on Saturday October 26, 2019 @04:51PM (#21366096)

I'm not sure what you mean, regarding peat, lots of Scottish whisky doesn't use peat smoked malt.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by FabHK on Saturday October 26, 2019 @05:11PM (#21366230)

You’re right, I should have said “typically”. My understanding is that the malted barley for Scotch is dried with smoke that often (but not always, as you point out) comes from peat, but it’s not dried in closed kilns as it is for Irish whiskey. So while you might have more or less peat, you still have more smoke than in Irish whiskey.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by maccard on Saturday October 26, 2019 @05:38PM (#21366394)

There are a small number of distilleries that use peat, almost exclusively the island distilleries. The vast majority of scotch is _not_ peaty. There's at least 50 distilleries in the speyside area/category (notably not peaty), vs 10 in campbelltown and islay.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by stevekemp on Sunday October 27, 2019 @11:14AM (#21370221)

Agreed. Broadly there are three types of Whisky in Scotland:

Highland. Lowland. Island.

Varieties from the same region share characteristics, but they're distinct from each other.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by hmottestad on Saturday October 26, 2019 @05:18PM (#21366275)

I would go as far as to say that most scotch is not peated.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by anfractuosity on Saturday October 26, 2019 @06:24PM (#21366633)

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usfeatures/maltwhisky... seems to indicate that coke/oil is used these days, with peat being added if wanted for flavours.

I'm curious how historically the kilns would be fired across Scotland, if peat was more prevalent?

http://www.bairds-malt.co.uk/Bairds-Malt/Process/process mentions about using hot air.

https://www.laphroaig.com/en/whisky/our-process - Has some nice videos, including them using solely peat to kiln the malt.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by tptacek on Saturday October 26, 2019 @06:29PM (#21366656)

Most distilleries, including the best known, don't malt and dry their own barley to begin with.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by pushpop on Saturday October 26, 2019 @05:58PM (#21366503)

The difference between Irish and scotch whiskies isn’t the smoky flavour. In fact most scotch isn’t peted. It’s the distilling process.

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Re:Telling Whiskey from Whisky by stock_toaster on Saturday October 26, 2019 @07:09PM (#21366860)

> It’s the distilling process

As well as the fact that irish whiskey generally has a mashbill containing a portion of unmalted barley. Not sure, but I think it is at _least_ 30% as per the Irish Whiskey Association rules?

Single malt Scotch requires (as per SWA rules) a 100% malted barley mashbill.

Blended Scotch, on the other hand, has no such requirement, and is typically a blend of Single malt Scotch and alcohols from other cereals.

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