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Aging is a fairly complex process, which adds richness, flavour and texture to whisky. It is surrounded by a lot of mystique and people who oversee this process are really valued. During aging the spirit loses some of its harshness and acquires the natural aromas of its environment. Thus a whisky that is aged near the sea may be different from one aged near a mountain meadow. Flavours can also result from the cask itself. Thus a whisky which is aged in a cask that previously contained sherry would taste different from one that was aged in a rum cask.
Whisky matures only in casks and not in bottles. So all of you who've bought a bottle of Cardhu 10 years old four years ago and are hoping that age will do something to your liquor, please drink it now. In Scotland and Ireland the spirit has to be at least three years old to be called Whisky.
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Originally Casks were used to just store whisky and the property of whisky to improve with age could only be appreciated by those who bought and stocked large amounts of casks. Scientific maturation only began in the 19th century.
The oak wood is used for casks that are used for aging and distilleries may own thousands of casks. Scotland has few sources of wood (during the infamous Clearances, reluctant clansmen were displaced by the simple expedient of the laird burning the wooden roof beam of their houses) and most wood is imported. With the depletion of forests in England, the Whisky manufacturers had to look elsewhere. In those days it was trendy for the English upper classes to consume sherry and empty sherry casks were available in plenty. Not only were these cheap (which is what may have attracted them to the Scots in the first place) they also imparted a rich flavour to the spirits which were aged in them. As sherry consumption decreased, sherry casks were replaced with casks that had been used to age Bourbon.
And that's how air, water, earth and fire transform into the "water of life" you can find at a store near you. Just like a fine wine, a single malt whisky is formed by a lot of different influences, like the kind of water at the distillery, the shape of the pot stills, the type of wood that is used for maturation and the time that the spirit stays in the barrel.
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Grain Whisky is produced by a largely industrial process. Its raw ingredients are Barley and other grains such as corn or maize. What is produced is a white spirit with very little flavour. The spirit is placed in oak casks and only when it has been stored for three years can it legally be called Whisky. Grain Whisky is generally regarded as the bulking agent for Blended Whisky with the character of the Blend coming from the Malt Whisky which is mixed with it.
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Check out these Scotch Recipes
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If you have a Scotch related question,Ask Tulleeho
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