There are many different types of whisky, and the variances depend on the kind and quantity of grains used as well as the production techniques. The primary grains are barley, corn, wheat, and rye, and the various distillation techniques—such as batch or continuous distillation—as well as maturation procedures and times, result in various whisky classifications. While American whiskey is primarily matured in oak, Scotch and Irish whiskies use reclaimed casks.
MALT
Made Solely from malted barley in copper pot stills, this is the “original whisky of the Scottish Highland. It has also been made in Japan since the 1920s, and it is now made in Canada, parts of Asia, and in almost several European countries.
“Single Malt” is the product of an individual distillery. In Scotland, it must be matured for a minimum of three years.
BOURON
For a whiskey to be deemed bourbon, it must contain at least 51% corn in the mash bill, the remainder being made up of barley, wheat, or rye. It has to be matured in new charred oak casks for a minimum of 2 years.
It takes its name from Bourbon County in Kentucky, which in turn was named in honor of the French royal House of Bourbon when the former Western Virginian county of Kentucky was subdivided in the 1780s.
BLENDS
It’s a mix of malt whisky and grain whiskey. Blends typically have a proportion of 40 percent malt to 60 percent grain.
More malt is used in deluxe blends, less in standard blends. In the mid-19th century, drinkers adopted lighter and cheaper blends over then the highly variable and strongly flavored single malt whiskeys and Irish Whiskey.
RYE
Relatively uncommon today, rye is the original American whiskey. It must contain at least 51 percent rye and be matured in new, charred white oak for at least two years.
Canada produces a lot of rye whiskey, though the process and classification are different from that of American Rye.
The rye whiskey in North America dates back to the 1600s. It was developed by Irish and Scottish settlers.
Other types of Whiskey
- Blended Malt: The blended malt is a mix of malt whiskeys from more than one
- Grain: Distilled in a continuous still, grain whiskey is typically made from wheat or corn along with malted and unmalted barely.
- Pure Pot Still Whiskey: Made from a mix of malted and malted barley, pure pot still whiskey is unique to Ireland.
- Tennessee whiskey: Made much in the same way as bourbon with a mashbill of at least 51 percent corn. It undergoes filtration through a deep bed of sugar maple charcoal.