As we all know, no more noble a cause has ever been taken up in the history of our species than the art of making the sacred spirit, so we decided to fill you in on how this happens!


Whisky has three ingredients. That sacred triumvirate is cereal grains, yeast and water. In the case of single malt whiskies, generally, but no longer exclusively Scotch, that grain would be malted barley. Single pot stills in Ireland use barley, some of which will be malted, but not all of it. Some American whiskies, including bourbons, use a mixture of grains, whilst others use a singular grain, like rye whisky. Different whiskies use different grain bills.

The first step of this revered craft, if barley is one of the grains, is to malt the barley. This is done by first soaking the barley in water to start the process of germination. Next, the barley is dried in a kiln to stop germination at the right point. Some distillers use peat to fuel the fire of the kiln, this adds a smokey aroma and flavour to the whisky. Some distillers will malt other grains, but the process of malting is generally for barley.

The next step is to mill the grain or grains to a powder called ‘grist’, this aids fermentation. The grist is added to hot water to produce a liquid known as ‘wort’. Next, yeast is added to the wort and left to ferment, this produces what is essentially a beer (without the hops) of roughly 7-10% ABV known as ‘wash’.

Now, the wash can be distilled. This is done by heating the wash in a still, concentrated alcoholic vapours separate, making their way into a second still, and condensing back to a liquid as they do. The process is then repeated to further concentrate the alcohol up to roughly 60-70% ABV. Some distillers repeat the process a third time, to make it triple-distilled, this is common in Ireland, but another triple-distiller is Auchentoshan in Scotland.

The new make spirit, as it is known, goes through a spirit safe, where only the final cut makes it, the rest is generally put back into the distillation cycle. This is where the distiller earns their stripes as it were, as this is said to be the most crucial point.

It is at this point that any further filtration takes place. In the case of Jack Daniels, the new make spirit is filtered through sugar maple charcoal. Jack was a wise man.

The final cut of the new make spirit is then matured in barrels. Distillers use a variety of barrels or casks, including American and European Oak casks. Traditionally, those barrels previously stored bourbon, sherry or port, but now many more options are being used, including cognac, cider brandy, tequila, mezcal, pale ale, stout, red and even white wine casks, and many more are being tried. The barrels used, and what they stored will affect the scent, flavour and colour.

After maturation, water is generally added to the whisky to reduce the strength down to a friendlier 40% or so. Some releases add no water, these are listed as ‘cask strength’. These whiskies will ‘put hair on your chest’, as the old saying goes.

In the case of blended whiskies, it is at this point they will be blended. Some blends are a mixture of single malts, these are known as blended malt whiskies. Others are made from a blend of malt whiskies and other grain whiskies, particularly Scotch, Irish and Japanese whiskies made in this fashion will be labelled as ‘blended’.

After blending, some distilleries age the blend further in what they call ‘marrying casks’, to give the whisky time to… well, marry.

Most of the processes above allow for variation, which explains the great variety in whisky flavour profiles and characters. And now, after all that work and waiting, we are ready for the best stage, the drinking of the art! Sip and savour, as you’ve read, a great deal went into it.