The world of whisky can be confusing and full of technical, industry terminology, and jargon. We are here to help and break down some of the barriers with our alphabetical A to Z jargon buster listing some of the important and most common whisky terms and phrases. Want to know your draff from your grist or your lyne arm from your worm tub? Look below for the list of whisky definitions. Anything in bold can be crossed reference within the glossary.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Angel’s Share
The romantic name given to alcohol that evaporates from a cask as whisky is maturing in a warehouse. In Scotland and Ireland, this is approximately 1-2% of the contents of each cask per year, although this amount is higher in other countries and warmer climates.
ABV
The abbreviation for Alcohol by Volume – the term used to describe the percentage alcohol level in spirits (eg: the whisky is bottled at 40% ABV – this means the whisky has 40% alcohol and 60% water).
B
Blended Whisky
A whisky made by blending two of more whiskies of different origins. This can be any number of single malt and grain whiskies to create the required flavour characteristics. They can be from different distilleries, be of different ages and from different cask types.
C
Cask
The wooden barrel used to mature the whisky. These are traditionally made from oak. The most used types of oak are American oak (quercus alba), European oak (quercus robur) or Japanese oak (quercus acuta), which is also known as mizunara oak.
Cask Strength
The natural strength of whisky as it comes from the cask. It is not diluted before bottling and the strength can be anything between 40% and 65% ABV, depending on age. The younger a whisky is, the higher its ABV will be in the cask.
Charring
The process of burning the inside of a cask. This blackens the inside and accelerates the extraction of natural compounds in the wood to come out when filled with spirit. The level of charring can be controlled to allow the correct amount of flavour compounds to pass from the wood to the whisky during maturation.
Chill Filtration
The process by which natural substances, such as esters and fatty acids, are removed. These make whisky go cloudy when cold or diluted with water and are removed before bottling. The whisky is chilled, the natural substances coagulate and then removed by passing through a series of metal meshes.
Column Still
A large, tall still that allows for continuous mechanised distillation. Column stills are mostly used in the production of grain whisky and bourbon, and are modern, cost effective and efficient. May also be called a Coffey still, continuous still or patent still.
Condenser
The cooling apparatus connected to the still when the process of condensation takes place. This is where alcohol vapours return to liquid spirit. Modern condensers consist of a series of copper tubes surrounded by cold running water. Traditional condensers can also be found – please see worm tub below.
Cooper
A highly skilled person who makes the casks for whisky maturation. This is done by perfectly locking staves of wood together to make a watertight container. This art is called coopering, and it takes place in a building called a cooperage. A cooper takes between five to seven years to complete their apprenticeship.
Copper Pot Still
The type of still used to produce Scotch single malt, Irish pot still and other styles of whisky. Copper is used as it purifies spirit through contact with the vapours and liquids, removes undesirable compounds and conducts heat well. They produce new make spirit in batches, rather than continuously like in a column still, and are therefore labour intensive and time consuming to operate. A copper pot still is made up of the Pot, neck, lyne arm and condenser.
D
Distillation
The process of turning the mildly alcoholic wash into highly alcoholic spirit. The wash is heated in a still and the alcohol vapours evaporate and travel up the neck of the still and travel along the lyne arm, where they are condensed in a condenser to form a liquid again.
Distillery
A building where whisky or other spirits are produced.
Draff
The residue from the Mashing process. It consists of barley husks and other bits of the grain. They are collected, dried and compressed in to pellets and used as animal feed, or sold to local farmers.
Dram
The traditional Scottish name for a glass of whisky. Believed to have originated from a medicinal measurement administered by a pharmacist.
Drum Malting
A modern method for producing malted barley and used in most malting facilities. The barley is soaked in water to increase the moisture content, drained and placed in a large rotating drum. This is turned consistently for several days until the barley starts to germinate, turns the starch to sugar and becomes ‘malt’.
F
Fermentation
The process of turning natural sugars into alcohol. In whisky production a sugary liquid called wort is put into a container called a washback and yeast is added. This triggers fermentation and takes around 48 hours. The sugar has turned to alcohol and carbon dioxide and is called wash – this has a strength of between 7-8% ABV.
Floor Malting
A traditional method of producing malt that is only practiced in very few distilleries today. The barley is soaked in water, drained and laid out on a concrete floor for 5-6 days until germination takes place. At this point, all starch has turned to sugar. This malting process is very labour intensive as the barley must be regularly turned by hand to ensure even distribution of heat and prevent roots/shoots knitting together.
G
Grist
Malted barley that has been milled and ground into a powder. This increases surface area and is so that warm water can be added to extract as many natural sugars from the malt as possible. The grist plus water mix is called mash.
K
Kiln
A large room cube-shaped building where malted barley is heated to stop germination and remove moisture. This makes the barley is ready for milling. Traditionally, the kiln was fired by peat, but most are now powered by other sources including coke or hot air. Several Scottish distilleries, mostly on the islands, still use peat fires and a kiln to give their traditional smoky characteristics.
L
Low Wines
The alcohol spirit from the first distillation in the wash still. This is around 25% ABV and contains undesirable compounds, which are removed during the second distillation through the spirit still.
Lyne Arm
The part of a copper pot still where the spirit vapours are transported from the main body of the still to the condenser. The arm is normally horizontal or close to horizontal, either inclining or declining. Some distilleries have oddly shaped or steeper angles for the arm – this allows spirit vapours to travel back to the still to be redistilled.
M
Malt
Barley that has been through the malting process, which changes starch to natural sugars needed to create alcohol.
Malting
The process where starch in barley as it comes from the field is converted to sugar – this is needed to create alcohol during fermentation. For malting, barley is soaked in cold water for 24 hours to increase moisture content and then allowed to germinate. This is where starch turns to sugar and takes 5-6 days. This takes place by Drum Malting or Floor Malting. The malt is then dried and milled – the result is called grist.
Mashing
The procedure where warm water is added to grist. Natural sugars are dissolved to form a sugary solution called wort. This takes place in a large tank made of copper, cast iron or steel called a mash tun. The solution then goes to fermentation. Any grain husks and residue are known as draff.
Mash Bill
A term used in American whiskey for the collection of cereals used to create the spirit. This is traditionally made up of corn, wheat, rye and malted barley. In bourbon the mash bill must be made up of at least 51% corn with the remaining percentage made up of any combination of the other cereals. For rye whiskey this changes to be a minimum of 51% rye.
Mash Tun
A large tank or vessel that is made from cast iron, stainless steel or copper, where the mashing process takes place. The mash tun is filled with a mixture of grist and warm water – the soluble sugars in the grist dissolve to form a sugary solution called wort. Most distilleries add three waters, increasing the temperature each time to extract maximum sugar. The wort is passed through a perforated floor of the tun to go to a washback tank to undergo fermentation.
Master Blender
The person working for a company or distillery that selects and marries different whiskies of different ages or origins together to form the final flavour profile of the whisky. They can also select single casks for special bottlings and are often the figurehead of a brand.
Maturation
The process and time taken for a whisky to gain flavour characteristics from the oak cask in which it is being stored. The whisky spirit draws natural compounds and substances from the wood over time. Wood is porous and allows the cask to ‘breathe’ and pull in air from the surrounding environment.
Milling
The early part of the production process where the dried malted barley grains are ground down to become grist. In Scotland, this happens through a roller mill in most locations – this has two rollers with the first cracking the husk and second grinding the grain to the required consistency. A hammer mill can also be used.
Mothballing
The term used when a distillery is closed but with the intention of restarting again in time. All equipment is left in situ and ready to go. A mothballing period can last anything from a few months to several years dependent on economic factors.
N
Neck
The section of a copper pot still between the pot and the lyne arm. The width and height of the neck controls the amount and type of alcohol vapours that reach the top to be condensed back to a liquid spirit. Shorter necks tend to produce heavy, oily spirits while taller necks give light, delicate spirits.
P
Pagoda
The pyramid-shaped roof that provides ventilation from the kiln where the malted barley is dried. Invented by architect Charles Doig in the late Victorian era, who drew inspiration from the similarly shaped age-old designs used in Japanese architecture.
Peat
A layer of compacted vegetation that takes thousands of years to grow. It lays below the topsoil and consists of grasses, plants, tree roots, mosses etc. A very dense and carbon rich material that when dried is used as a fuel. Peat burns with a very consistent, high temperature with a thick acrid smoke. Used traditionally in the whisky industry to dry malted barley to produce the smoky aroma and flavour. A compound in the peat smoke called phenol gets locked in the barley and gets carried through the entire process until in your glass.
Phenol
Pronounced fee-nol. A compound released during the burning of dried peat that gives whisky a smoky, peaty aroma and flavour.
Pot still
Also see Copper Pot Still. A style of still most used in the production of single malt whisky. Made from copper due to its excellent conductive qualities and is formed of the pot at the base (where the alcoholic wash is heated), the neck (where the alcohol vapours rise) and the lyne arm and condenser (where the vapours return to the liquid form).
PPM
A term relating to the smoke levels in a whisky. PPM is the abbreviation of phenol Parts per Million – the scientific measurement for showing the number of phenols present in a whisky, absorbed from the burning of peat.
Purifier
A device connected to the lyne arm that aids condensation of heavier alcohol vapours that are not useful in the whisky making process. It leads the liquids back down to the pot, where they undergo further distillation.
Q
Quaich
Pronounced quake, as in earthquake. A traditional Scottish whisky drinking cup that consists of a bowl with a short vertical handle on either side. They are associated with friendship and ancient Celtic stories say that if you share a drink from a quaich with someone, then you will be friends for ever.
R
Reflux
The name given to re-condensing alcohol that then runs back into the still and gets re-distilled. The amount of reflux is determined by the shape and size of the copper pot still and the angle to which the lyne arm is set. The neck may also have a bulge in it, which is specifically designed to encourage reflux.
Rickhouse
The term used for a warehouse in the American whiskey industry, especially in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. Rickhouses are large buildings that can be several storeys high and can hold up to 15,000 barrels of maturing whiskey.
S
Saladin Box
An old method of malting barley developed in the 1950s and named after its inventor Charles Saladin. This large, automated trough has a perforated floor through which air is blown. The germination process of the barley is controlled in the box by regulating airflow and temperature between the grains.
Single Grain
Whisky made of one type of cereal (except malted barley) and at one single distillery. These days, most single grain is produced using wheat. Maize was historically used. Single grains are light and delicate, and often used as the foundation for blended Scotch whiskies.
Single Malt
Whisky made of 100% malted barley and from one single distillery. They can contain slightly different ages of whisky and from different cask types. These are then married in a larger container called a tun to give the required consistent flavour profile. The age stated on the bottle is the youngest age of any whisky included.
Spirit Safe
A brass framed box with glass walls that is attached to the spirit still. It is used to analyse the spirit as it leaves the still. By law, the operator cannot come in to contact with the spirit and the spirit safe is padlocked with the Distillery Manager and a Customs & Excise officer keeping the keys.
Spirit Still
The second, and usually smallest, in a pair of copper pot stills. The low wines from the wash still are re-distilled here – this raises the alcohol level to around 65% ABV and purifies the alcohol further. Only the middle section of this distillate is collected for maturation. This section is called the ‘cut’ or ‘heart’.
T
Toasting
A lighter version of charring that is administered to the inside of a cask. This activates natural compounds within the wood and caramelises natural sugars, which then pass into the spirit when the cask is filled. Toasting allows for more subtle maturation and delicate aromas and flavours to develop, compared to heavier charring.
W
Warehouse
The area where whisky is stored during its maturation. There are three main types – dunnage, racked and palletised. Dunnage is a traditional warehouse type – they have earth floors, stone walls and a slate roof. Casks are stacked no more than three high. A racked warehouse is a modern facility with temperature and humidity control with casks loaded on racks up to 12 high. Palletised warehouses are similar but have the barrels stacked on pallets up to the roof. Also called a Rickhouse in America.
Wash
The name given to the mildly alcoholic liquid created by fermentation. This liquid is around 7-8% ABV and then goes to the wash still for first distillation.
Washback
A large deep tub or vat at a distillery where yeast is added to sugary wort produced during mashing. Fermentation then takes place. Traditionally made of wood, they are now commonly made of stainless steel.
Wash Still
The still where wash is added, and the first distillation takes place. It is usually the larger of the two stills, with the spirit still being smaller. The fermented wash is heated, alcohol vapours evaporate and then condensed back to a liquid. The resulting liquid has an alcohol level of around 25% ABV and are called the low wines.
Worm Tub
An traditional apparatus used for condensing alcohol vapour back to liquid spirit. The worm tub is connected to the lyne arm of a still. It is formed of a long downward spiralling copper pipe submerged in a tank of cold water. The tub is usually positioned outside and was traditionally filled with rainwater. Very few distilleries in Scotland still operate this system.
Wort
A warm, sugary solution that contains soluble sugars from the malted barley. Wort is the liquid that goes forward to the fermentation process, where the sugars are changed to alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast.
