W L FOOD & DRINK
WHISKY-‘ UNDERSTANDING THE LABEL’ BY DAVID GREEN, THE RED FOX
A bottle of whisky displays a number of different terms from single-malt to blended, cask strength to non-chill filtered and what does PPM mean?
Whisky is produced all over the world and every county has its own terms, regulations and laws, I am looking here specifically at Scottish whisky terms although most of them are similar worldwide.
Let’ s start with the spelling- producers in Scotland prefer to spell whisky without the‘ e’ whereas American and Ireland tend to spell it Whiskey.
Legend has it that during the 1800’ s, Scotch whisky was considered low quality so American and Irish distillers began adding the“ e” in order to show a point of distinction and that the quality of their whiskey was higher. Today, it’ s little more than a regional tradition.
‘ Scotch’ means simply that the whisky was distilled and matured in Scotland.
‘ Malt whisky’ is simply a whisky containing only malted barley and water. No other cereal grains are used in its production.
‘ Grain whisky’ is a whisky made of cereal grains such as corn, wheat, or rye. It may contain some barley malt. Grain whisky is seldom sold on its own in Scotland; it’ s used primarily to be mixed with malt whisky, for use in blended whiskies.
There is a massive misconception that because a certain whisky is labelled“ single malt” that it must be the product of just a single batch or barrel, however this is not true and most single malts are in fact a blend, but it’ s a very specific type of blend in that they are a mixture of whiskies distilled at different times, in different batches, and even of different ages.
A single malt whisky is made of 100 % malted barley and the important feature is that it is from just one single distillery location. Not the product of a single batch or a single barrel, but a single distillery. For example, a single-malt Bruichladdich may contain whiskies from many barrels and different ages, but it will contain only whisky produced at Bruichladdich.
A blended whisky is made by blending together any number of single malt whiskies and grain whiskies to create the required flavour and characteristics. These whiskies can be from different distilleries and be of different ages and legally, a blended Scotch is a mixture of malt and grain whiskies. Think Chivas Regal, Dewar’ s and Johnnie Walker.
Under the Scotch whisky regulations“ Blended Malt Scotch Whisky” means a blend of two or more Single Malt Scotch Whiskies that have been distilled at more than one distillery;“ Blended Scotch Whisky” means a blend of one or more Single Malt Scotch Whiskies with one or more Single Grain Scotch Whiskies.
Single Cask whisky is where each bottle comes from an individual ageing barrel, instead of being created by blending together the contents of various barrels, this is where you get limited edition small number bottling’ s.
Cask Strength relates to the strength of whisky as it comes from the cask and it can be anything between 40 % and 65 % ABV, depending on age. Most whiskies are brought down to a standard ABV of around 40 %, by adding water before bottling so that each batch is consistent. However, a cask strength whisky is bottled at the strength at which it’ s drawn from the cask.
You may see the term‘ Non Chill filtered’ on a bottle, non chill filtered whisky that is 46 % ABV or lower will go cloudy when chilled with water or ice.
Chill-filtration is a method of filtering whisky to remove this residue and cloudiness. The process involves the whisky being chilled, the natural substances coagulate and are then removed by being passed through a series of metal meshes. This method is highly controversial for it is said to remove flavour and body from the whisky.
PPM is the abbreviation of Parts Per Million – the scientific measurement for showing the amount of phenols present in a whisky. It’ s basically a measurement to tell us how peaty a whisky is going to be.
A whisky picks up its peaty flavours and medicinal smells from the grain, which has been dried out over burning peat, the grain takes on the taste and smell and this transfers to the finished whisky. For peaty whisky, look for Islay whisky and especially Bruchladdich who produce the‘ Octomore range’ which has a PPM up to 200 compared to laphroaig at around 45ppm.
The age statement on the bottle gives the age of the youngest component of the whisky; this stops at bottling so a 12-yearold whisky bottled 4 years ago is still a 12-year-old. More distilleries are opting away from age statements these days, as a good whisky doesn’ t have to be an old whisky.
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