Glossary
The most relevant whiskey terms.
Age – As stated on the label applied to the youngest whisky in the bottle.(If vatted or blended)
Alembic – is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distilling. from Greek ambix – ‘cap of a still’ – arabic – ‘the still’
American Oak – also known as Quercus Alba, American oak is widely used in Irish whiskey due its high vanillin content and availibility.
Angel’s Share – This is the name given to the alcohol that evaporates from a cask as the whisky is maturing in a warehouse.
Aroma – Characteristics of distilled spirit as assessed by sense of smell receptors in the nose.
Beer – Fermented extract of malt or cereals. Another name for wash.
Bourbon Whiskey – An American whiskey distilled from a minimum of 51% corn/maize, distilled to no more than 80% ABV
Bond – Whisky is held in bonded warehouses until excise duty has been paid.
Blended Whiskey – a combination of the three basic whiskeys – single grain, single malt and single pot still.
Butt (Sherry Butt), originally containing sherry, with a capacity of roughly 500 litres.
Cask A wooden vessel usually made of oak, where whisky is stored in order to mature.
Cask strength – The strength of whisky as it comes from the cask, strength can be anything between 40% and 70% ABV
Charring – The process of burning the inside of a cask.
Chill filtration – The process by which natural substances that make whisky go cloudy when cold or diluted with water are removed before bottling.
Column still – A large industrial still that allows for continuous, mechanised distillation of grain whiskey.
Cooper – A highly skilled person who makes the casks for whisky maturation by perfectly locking staves of wood together to make a watertight container.
Distillation – The process of turning the mildly alcoholic wash into highly a alcoholic spirit.
Draff – The residue from the mashing process. It consists of barley husks and other bits of grain.
Dram – A name used to refer to a measure of whiskey, about the same as a shot.
Drum malting – This modern method is used to produce malted barley in most malting facilities. The barley is put in to a large drum and soaked with water.
Dunnage Warehouse: A traditional type of warehouse with a slate roof, an earthen floor and thick walls made of stone or brick for maturing casks.
Esters – A class of components formed by the chemical combination of an acid and an alcohol.
European Oak – Quercus Robur is used in brandy and sherry cooperage and Quercus Petraea is slower growing and has finer tannins and a high vanillin content.
Evaporation: The physical change of a substance, from liquid to gas.
Excise Duty: A tax imposed on produced spirits.
Fermentation – The process of turning sugar into alcohol.
Finish – used to describe the longevity of flavours lingering in the mouth after tasting a whisky.
Floor malting – A traditional method of producing malted barley were it is soaked in water and then laid out on a wooden floor for about a week until germination starts to take place.
Foreshots – are the first fraction (part) of the distillation process in the spirit still. The foreshots are very high in alcohol with about 80% ABV
Fusel Oil – A mixture of volatile, oily liquids (congeners) produced in small amounts during fermentation and separated by distillation.
Green Malt – This term describes barley that has started to germinate and has not been dried in the kiln.
Grist – A ground up malted barley, which is used for distilling in all distilleries.
Grist Mill – A device used to grind barley into flour.
Heads – is the very first runnings of the still and contains undesirable distillate containing compounds even more volatile than alcohol.
Heart of the run – It is the second fraction (part) of distilled alcohol from the spirit sill – between the Foreshot and the Feints – which is collected.
High wine – The result of the second distillation; a type of liquor containing a high percentage of alcohol.
Hogshead – A large barrel, made from oak and used to mature spirit. A wine hogshead of today is around 240 litres.
Kiln – The large room where malted barley is heated to stop the germination process and to remove moisture so that the barley is ready for milling.
Kilning – in malting the process of arresting the growth of the germinationg barley before starch can be used up.
Low Wines – are the alcohol produced during the first distillation of the wash in the wash or low wines still. The name low comes from the low strength of about 22- 24% ABV.
Lyne arm – The part of the still where the spirit vapours are transported to be condensed back into a liquid.
Malting – The natural process by which barley grains have been allowed to germinate by soaking in water and are then dried.
Mash bill – The grain recipe that goes into the mash to be fermented and distilled into whiskey (i.e. 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley).
Marrying – is a process where several whiskies come together in a large container where they blend into each other before bottling.
Mashing Process by which the milled, malted barley (grist) is mixed with hot water and progressively heated to obtain a sugary liquid called ‘wort’ that gets pumped into the washback where yeast is added to start the fermentation process.
Maturation
The time taken for the whisky to gain the optimum amount of character from the wooden cask in which it is being stored.
New Make – Spirit freshly distilled and of high strength with around 70% ABV and clean in colour.
Neck – The section of a still between the pot at the bottom and the lyne arm at the top.
Nosing – Nosing is the process, usually undertaken at whisky tastings, to judge and identify different aromas by smelling the whisky to categorize it.
Organic Whiskey – is made only from barley grown in ground free of inorganic fertilizer and treated with non chemical pesticides.
Optic Barley – Optic barley was developed during the 1990s and accounts for between 50% and 60% of the barley market. Optic barley boasts better resilience, resistance to disease and stronger, shorter straw.
Oxidation – The reaction of whisky with oxygen, or, more broadly, the air.
Poitin – Homemade Irish whiskey. The name comes from the way it is made: typically in a small pot (the Irish word for pot is pota), often with fermented potatoes instead of malted barley.
Pot Ale – Pot ale is a residue left in the wash still after the first distillation which is often mixed with draff to produce animal feed. Some distilleries also use it as fertilizer on fields.
Pot still – A style of still that is the most common to be used in the production of single malt whisky. They are made of copper due to its excellent conductive qualities.
PPM – is the abbreviation of Parts Per Million – the scientific measurement for showing the amount of phenols present in the malt used to make whisky, that have been absorbed from the burning of peat.
Proof – is a standardised measurement to determine the alcoholic strength. Spirit that is 100 degrees proof equals to 57.1% alcohol so 70% proof equal to 40% alcohol according to European standards.
Pure Pot Still – is distilled solely in a pot still and is not blended. It is distilled from barley both malted and unmalted.
Refill – A refill cask is one that has already been used to mature whiskey. A first fill cask that has been used by another industry, sherry for example, though it has not yet been used to mature whiskey.
Run –The liquid which leaves the still via the condenser.
Rummager – In pot stills which are directly fired, a rummager is a mechanism that stirs the liquid in the still to prevent solids sticking to the bottom.
Rye – A type of grain used to produce rye whiskey, it is particularly favoured in America.
Spent lees – are the residue in the Spirit Still after the distillation of the foreshots, potable spirits, and feints.
Spirit safe – A brass framed box with glass walls that is attached to the spirit still. It is used to analyse the spirit when it leaves the still. The spirit safe is padlocked with a Customs & Excise officer keeping the key.
Spirit Still – A pot still where low wines, the foreshots and feints from the previous distillation are mixed and heated up to produce the spirit which is later filled into oak casks to mature.
Steeping – is probably the most important step in malting, as it is here that the barley is “tricked” into growing.
Single malt – Whisky that is made of 100% malted barley and is from just one single distillery location.
Underback – is the intermediate vessel, situated right below the mashtun, through which the hot wort flows before entering the cooler which will bring it down to the adequate temperature required for fermentation.
Unpeated Malt – is malted barley that has been kilned over fires not fuelled by peat, thus with very little or no phenolic content.
Vatted malt – A whisky that consists of two or more single malts that are blended together.
Virgin Oak – is oak which has not yet been used for the maturation of an alcoholic beverage is termed Virgin Oak.
Wash – A liquid normally containing 7-8% ABV produced during the fermentation process. Wash is similar to beer and is pumped to the wash still for the first distillation.
Washback A large deep tub or vat in which the fermentation process takes place in a distillery. Traditionally made of wood, they are now commonly made of stainless steel.
Wash still – Stills normally operate in pairs and the wash still is the first and usually largest of the two.
Worm Tub – The worm tub is normally a large tank or vessel containing the worm, a coiled copper pipe immersed in cold running water.
Wort – A warm and sugary solution that contains the soluble sugars from the malted barley dissolved in warm water.
Wheat – is used in the production of grain whisky among others. winter wheat is preferred for it has high levels of starch. Wheat brings a smooth, sweetness to the whiskey.
Yield – The amount of alcohol produced from a distillation. Technically speaking it is calculated as the quantity of alcohol produced from a ton of malt.
Age – As stated on the label applied to the youngest whisky in the bottle.(If vatted or blended)
Alembic – is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distilling. from Greek ambix – ‘cap of a still’ – arabic – ‘the still’
American Oak – also known as Quercus Alba, American oak is widely used in Irish whiskey due its high vanillin content and availibility.
Angel’s Share – This is the name given to the alcohol that evaporates from a cask as the whisky is maturing in a warehouse.
Aroma – Characteristics of distilled spirit as assessed by sense of smell receptors in the nose.
Beer – Fermented extract of malt or cereals. Another name for wash.
Bourbon Whiskey – An American whiskey distilled from a minimum of 51% corn/maize, distilled to no more than 80% ABV
Bond – Whisky is held in bonded warehouses until excise duty has been paid.
Blended Whiskey – a combination of the three basic whiskeys – single grain, single malt and single pot still.
Butt (Sherry Butt), originally containing sherry, with a capacity of roughly 500 litres.
Cask A wooden vessel usually made of oak, where whisky is stored in order to mature.
Cask strength – The strength of whisky as it comes from the cask, strength can be anything between 40% and 70% ABV
Charring – The process of burning the inside of a cask.
Chill filtration – The process by which natural substances that make whisky go cloudy when cold or diluted with water are removed before bottling.
Column still – A large industrial still that allows for continuous, mechanised distillation of grain whiskey.
Cooper – A highly skilled person who makes the casks for whisky maturation by perfectly locking staves of wood together to make a watertight container.
Distillation – The process of turning the mildly alcoholic wash into highly a alcoholic spirit.
Draff – The residue from the mashing process. It consists of barley husks and other bits of grain.
Dram – A name used to refer to a measure of whiskey, about the same as a shot.
Drum malting – This modern method is used to produce malted barley in most malting facilities. The barley is put in to a large drum and soaked with water.
Dunnage Warehouse: A traditional type of warehouse with a slate roof, an earthen floor and thick walls made of stone or brick for maturing casks.
Esters – A class of components formed by the chemical combination of an acid and an alcohol.
European Oak – Quercus Robur is used in brandy and sherry cooperage and Quercus Petraea is slower growing and has finer tannins and a high vanillin content.
Evaporation: The physical change of a substance, from liquid to gas.
Excise Duty: A tax imposed on produced spirits.
Fermentation – The process of turning sugar into alcohol.
Finish – used to describe the longevity of flavours lingering in the mouth after tasting a whisky.
Floor malting – A traditional method of producing malted barley were it is soaked in water and then laid out on a wooden floor for about a week until germination starts to take place.
Foreshots – are the first fraction (part) of the distillation process in the spirit still. The foreshots are very high in alcohol with about 80% ABV
Fusel Oil – A mixture of volatile, oily liquids (congeners) produced in small amounts during fermentation and separated by distillation.
Green Malt – This term describes barley that has started to germinate and has not been dried in the kiln.
Grist – A ground up malted barley, which is used for distilling in all distilleries.
Grist Mill – A device used to grind barley into flour.
Heads – is the very first runnings of the still and contains undesirable distillate containing compounds even more volatile than alcohol.
Heart of the run – It is the second fraction (part) of distilled alcohol from the spirit sill – between the Foreshot and the Feints – which is collected.
High wine – The result of the second distillation; a type of liquor containing a high percentage of alcohol.
Hogshead – A large barrel, made from oak and used to mature spirit. A wine hogshead of today is around 240 litres.
Kiln – The large room where malted barley is heated to stop the germination process and to remove moisture so that the barley is ready for milling.
Kilning – in malting the process of arresting the growth of the germinationg barley before starch can be used up.
Low Wines – are the alcohol produced during the first distillation of the wash in the wash or low wines still. The name low comes from the low strength of about 22- 24% ABV.
Lyne arm – The part of the still where the spirit vapours are transported to be condensed back into a liquid.
Malting – The natural process by which barley grains have been allowed to germinate by soaking in water and are then dried.
Mash bill – The grain recipe that goes into the mash to be fermented and distilled into whiskey (i.e. 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley).
Marrying – is a process where several whiskies come together in a large container where they blend into each other before bottling.
Mashing Process by which the milled, malted barley (grist) is mixed with hot water and progressively heated to obtain a sugary liquid called ‘wort’ that gets pumped into the washback where yeast is added to start the fermentation process.
Maturation
The time taken for the whisky to gain the optimum amount of character from the wooden cask in which it is being stored.
New Make – Spirit freshly distilled and of high strength with around 70% ABV and clean in colour.
Neck – The section of a still between the pot at the bottom and the lyne arm at the top.
Nosing – Nosing is the process, usually undertaken at whisky tastings, to judge and identify different aromas by smelling the whisky to categorize it.
Organic Whiskey – is made only from barley grown in ground free of inorganic fertilizer and treated with non chemical pesticides.
Optic Barley – Optic barley was developed during the 1990s and accounts for between 50% and 60% of the barley market. Optic barley boasts better resilience, resistance to disease and stronger, shorter straw.
Oxidation – The reaction of whisky with oxygen, or, more broadly, the air.
Poitin – Homemade Irish whiskey. The name comes from the way it is made: typically in a small pot (the Irish word for pot is pota), often with fermented potatoes instead of malted barley.
Pot Ale – Pot ale is a residue left in the wash still after the first distillation which is often mixed with draff to produce animal feed. Some distilleries also use it as fertilizer on fields.
Pot still – A style of still that is the most common to be used in the production of single malt whisky. They are made of copper due to its excellent conductive qualities.
PPM – is the abbreviation of Parts Per Million – the scientific measurement for showing the amount of phenols present in the malt used to make whisky, that have been absorbed from the burning of peat.
Proof – is a standardised measurement to determine the alcoholic strength. Spirit that is 100 degrees proof equals to 57.1% alcohol so 70% proof equal to 40% alcohol according to European standards.
Pure Pot Still – is distilled solely in a pot still and is not blended. It is distilled from barley both malted and unmalted.
Refill – A refill cask is one that has already been used to mature whiskey. A first fill cask that has been used by another industry, sherry for example, though it has not yet been used to mature whiskey.
Run –The liquid which leaves the still via the condenser.
Rummager – In pot stills which are directly fired, a rummager is a mechanism that stirs the liquid in the still to prevent solids sticking to the bottom.
Rye – A type of grain used to produce rye whiskey, it is particularly favoured in America.
Spent lees – are the residue in the Spirit Still after the distillation of the foreshots, potable spirits, and feints.
Spirit safe – A brass framed box with glass walls that is attached to the spirit still. It is used to analyse the spirit when it leaves the still. The spirit safe is padlocked with a Customs & Excise officer keeping the key.
Spirit Still – A pot still where low wines, the foreshots and feints from the previous distillation are mixed and heated up to produce the spirit which is later filled into oak casks to mature.
Steeping – is probably the most important step in malting, as it is here that the barley is “tricked” into growing.
Single malt – Whisky that is made of 100% malted barley and is from just one single distillery location.
Terroir – The terroir refers to the climate, soil type and topography of the region in which a beverage is produced.
Toasting – is a similar process to charring of casks but less aggressive due to the more porous nature of European oak.
Triple Distillation – A process whereby an alcoholic liquid is distilled thrice, as opposed the standard twice.
Underback – is the intermediate vessel, situated right below the mashtun, through which the hot wort flows before entering the cooler which will bring it down to the adequate temperature required for fermentation.
Unpeated Malt – is malted barley that has been kilned over fires not fuelled by peat, thus with very little or no phenolic content.
Vatted malt – A whisky that consists of two or more single malts that are blended together.
Virgin Oak – is oak which has not yet been used for the maturation of an alcoholic beverage is termed Virgin Oak.
Wash – A liquid normally containing 7-8% ABV produced during the fermentation process. Wash is similar to beer and is pumped to the wash still for the first distillation.
Washback A large deep tub or vat in which the fermentation process takes place in a distillery. Traditionally made of wood, they are now commonly made of stainless steel.
Wash still – Stills normally operate in pairs and the wash still is the first and usually largest of the two.
Worm Tub – The worm tub is normally a large tank or vessel containing the worm, a coiled copper pipe immersed in cold running water.
Wort – A warm and sugary solution that contains the soluble sugars from the malted barley dissolved in warm water.
Wheat – is used in the production of grain whisky among others. winter wheat is preferred for it has high levels of starch. Wheat brings a smooth, sweetness to the whiskey.
Yield – The amount of alcohol produced from a distillation. Technically speaking it is calculated as the quantity of alcohol produced from a ton of malt.