It is said that the shape and size of
the pot stills have a great influence
on the malt whisky produced in them.
The picture at the left shows the stills
and SPIRIT RECEIVER at Glenfarclas.

However, now it's time for the DISTILLATION of the wash.
And this is where the real magic begins. Beer (known to the ancient Egyptians) and
wine (popular with the Romans) are in a sense products of 'natural' fermentation, but
the technique of distillation had to be invented before the concept of whisky could be
conceived. Scotland and Ireland may still be fighting over who invented whisky, but the
books say that the first experiments were done by Arabic scholars in the 1st millennium.

The liquid that's drained off as a result of this process is called the WORT which will
later grow up to become Scotch malt whisky. During the FERMENTATION the sugars
in the wort are converted into alcohol by the addition of special yeast strains.
Different kinds of yeast (brewers yeast and distillers yeast) are used in different
combinations to try and influence the 'yield' and the quality of the final product.
This all happens in the WASHBACK - a fermentation vessel that allows the yeast to
convert the wort into a fermented liquid called WASH (7-10% alcohol). This takes two to four days. Now some two weeks have passed since the malting process began and so far it hasn't been that different from the production of beer.

After the malt has been dried it goes into the MALT MILL which grinds it into GRIST
before the next phase of the process begins. During the MASHING stage hot water
is added to the grist in a large vessel called a MASH TUN where the starch in the
barley is converted further into the fermentable sugars needed later on.
The picture at the right shows a relativerly small mash tun at Blair Athol distillery.

All Scotch malt whisky is distilled in POT STILLS - 2 different types are used.
During the distillation stage, the wash is boiled in a copper WASH STILL and
distilled (sometimes more than once). Alcohol boils more rapidly than water,
so the vapors from the still can be collected at the top of the 'swan's neck'
as they cool down again and condense back to alcohol. This first distillation
run produces the so-called LOW WINES that have between 10-20% alcohol.
The 2nd distillation occurs in a special, smaller still called the SPIRIT STILL.

The spirit used to be 'casked' at that strength as well but these
days the fresh spirit is often submitted to casks at around 63%.
The casks are then stored in special WAREHOUSES where they
will have the opportunity to mature next to their siblings for at
least three long years before they are released from captivity.
But hold on, once again we're getting way ahead of ourselves.
Maturation is the topic of the next chapter of this guide.

During the MALTING process, barley is soaked in water for two or three days, then spread out to germinate for about a week or so. During the GERMINATION that follows, enzymes turn the starch within the barley into soluble sugars. These will be converted into alcohol later on in the process. When the green malt begins to sprout, it is dried in a KILN to stop the germination process. Drying the sprouting barley can be done in a number of different ways. The peat that was traditionally used in Scotland gives the malted barley a very characteristic peaty taste. Single malts from the island of Islay, for example, derive a distinctly peaty character from the REEK (= peat smoke). Just the way I like it!

Just like different varieties of grapes are
used in the wine production, there are a
number of different barley varieties used
for the distillation of single malt whisky.
The Golden Promise variety has been popular
for many years, but these days distillers use
alternatives like Optic and Chariot as well.
Any variety of barley can be used to produce
malt whisky, but if any other type of grain is
used (maize, buckwheat, rye, corn, etc.) the result can't be called malt whisky.

The basis of every single malt Scotch whisky is plain old BARLEY.
Well, it used to be 'plain old barley' the distilleries either grew themselves
or purchased from nearby farmhouses. These days production is much more
rationalised and barley is often purchased in bulk and shipped in from overseas.

However, before you click onwards I should mention that the
distillation of the grain whisky I mentioned in chapter two is a
completely different story. These whiskies are produced much
faster (and in far larger quantities) than malt whisky in a way
that is fundamentally different. Instead of the traditional pot
stills, 'Coffey stills' (a.k.a. column or patent stills) are used.
These continuous stills were invented in the 1820's and were
widely used only a few decades later because these so-called
'Coffey stills' turned out to be much more efficient than pot stills.

MM Interview with Raymond Armstrong
Scotland Pildrammage 2003 Report 1
Scotland Pildrammage 2003 Report 2
E-pistle: French Still Life
E-pistle: Whisky or IMFL

Unfortunately, the more efficient production process eliminates
some of the 'flaws' in pot still distillation that give single malt
whisky its character. And since most blended whiskies contain
mostly grain whisky they really need to mix in some old-fashioned
malt whisky into the blend to give it personality. When a grain whisky is
bottled all by itself (like the brands 'Blackbarrel' and 'Invergordon') I usually
don't care too much for the contents of the bottle.

But then again, that may be because very few grain whiskies get the chance to mature as long as many malt whiskies do;
usually ten years or longer. Which conveniently brings us back to the topic of the next chapter: Maturation.

Within every distillation, the distillate is divided into three CUTS of which only
the second cut, the HEART OF THE RUN, will be used. The first (HEADS) and
the last fraction (TAILS ) are sub-standard and will be re-distilled together with
the next batch of low wines. The heart of the run is a clear liquid of up to 70%
alcohol/volume. Depending on the strain of barley that is used, one metric ton
of barley is converted into +/- 400 litres of pure alcohol (+/- 96%).