The art of whisky

Creating the ‘water of life’

It’s hard to pinpoint the origin of whisky. One theory suggests that the distillation process vital to producing whisky may have been invented in Mesopotamia some 4,000 years ago and applied to alcohol production around 800 B.C. Traveling monks could have brought that knowledge to Europe over the next few hundred years. But no one knows for sure.

Maybe a shortage of good grapes for wine forced the inhabitants of the British Isles to use barley, wheat, and rye. Regardless, the result was whisky. The word ‘whisky’ itself has a Gaelic origin from the word ‘uisge’, a shortened version of ‘uisge beatha’, which translates to ‘water of life’. In Latin, this is rendered as ‘aqua vitae’. Incidentally, that’s what Norway also calls its most popular spirit.

Ongoing debate

Even though the history of whisky is woven in mystery, it is generally safe to say that whisky (as we know it) originated somewhere in the British Isles. Exactly where is another issue! Did Scotland’s proudest export come from the Scottish Highlands? Or does it belong to the Irish, who claim the ‘water of life’ as their own?

The two nations even spell it differently. The Irish (and the U.S.) spell it ‘whiskey’. Whereas the Scottish (and Japanese) spell it ‘whisky’. As we’re focusing on Scottish whisky, we’ve chosen that spelling.

Whether it’s from Scotland or Ireland, it didn’t take long for the settlers of the New World to make their own whisky. Bourbon is a popular type of American whiskey made from corn, while Canada has a proud tradition of using rye. As a successful copy of the Scottish style, Japanese whisky arrived on the scene a few years ago and continues to impress those new and old to the world of whisky.

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Photo: Scott Jessiman Photo/ Shutterstock, Shutterstock and Jeremy Sutton Hibbert

The Criteria for ‘scotch’

Traditional whisky lovers can probably agree that nothing quite beats an authentic Scottish whisky. For a Scottish whisky to be considered a proper ‘scotch’, it must be made of water and malted barley and aged for at least three years in an oak barrel. There can be no additives, except for water and coloring, and it must be bottled with no less than 40% alcohol. Needless to say, an authentic scotch must also be made in Scotland.

Scottish whisky is divided into five different styles, each coming from a different region: Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, Campbelltown, and Islay. Each area has its own history of whisky production and distilleries, producing whiskey with distinct flavors, aromas, and textures.

Many say that the secret to great Scottish whisky is the local water. All Scottish distilleries are located near a high-quality water source and benefit from a wet climate. The rain filters down through the pristine moorland peat, picking up the local character of the ground, perhaps even adding to the taste of the whiskies.

Blends and single-malts

Even though Scottish distilleries can make whisky out of any grain, malted barley is a key ingredient in any true scotch. Pure malt whisky, made only from malted barley, is often mixed with a grain whisky or even another malt whisky to produce blended whiskies. The result is often a deep and complex marriage of scents for the nose and tastes for the palate.

The pinnacle of whisky making is undoubtedly the single malt. As the name implies, single malts contain just one unadulterated type of malt whisky. This purist approach means the flavor profile of that particular single malt takes center stage. Single malts are expensive and their cost is directly related to how long they sit in oak casks. Some decades-old single malts command prices in the many thousands of dollars!

A process of patience

To make Scottish whisky, let’s start with the key ingredient: malted barley. Malting barley involves wetting dry grains, spreading them over a floor, and warming them until the seeds begin to sprout. The sprouts are then dried with hot air or sometimes held over a peat fire to give a smokiness or ‘reek’ to the malt. Big malting houses produce malt in large quantities and sell it to individual distilleries. A few distilleries still make their own.

This malting process produces the various enzymes in the grain that are needed to convert starches to sugars, which are then broken down by yeast over 48 hours. The alcoholic liquid produced by this fermentation is then distilled multiple times and refined by heating it into a vapor and allowing it to condense into liquid again.

A precious fluid then drips out of the still into the ‘spirit safe’. This colorless and clear liquid carries only the flavor imparted by the peat-smoke-infused malted barley. From there, the whiskies are made with good quality water and transferred to oak barrels that may have housed bourbon, sherry, madeira, wine, or even beer in them before.

Then the slow process begins of transferring the oak barrel’s rich flavors and colors into the whisky. This takes a minimum of three years, but can be much longer, often spanning 10, 12, 18, 25 years, or more. The longer the aging, the rarer the bottle.

Come to Islay for a dram

The relatively small island of Islay on the western shore of Scotland is home to nine iconic distilleries, each producing a distinctive, smoky style of scotch with a touch of salt from the nearby sea. Visit one of them and enjoy one (or several) drams of whisky on an expedition cruise with Hurtigruten. Slàinte mhath!