World Whisky day: A Day to celebrate across the globe

WORLD WHISKY DAY A DAY TO CELEBRATE ACROSS THE GLOBE Do you know your bourbons from your blends and your rye whiskies?

By Emily Stockden

We celebrate World Whisky Day on 19 May and it’s a good time to get to know the ins and outs of this tricky tipple! All whisk(e)y is made from just three ingredients: water, grain and yeast. There’s a lot more to it from there.

To be called Scotch whisky, the liquid must be produced, distilled at 98.4 alcohol by volume (ABV), and aged in oak casks for a minimum of three years in Scotland. Scotch whisky (spelt without an ‘e’) can be blended – when different Scotch whiskies of different ages and flavours are blended to get the perfect balance – or single malt – meaning that the whisky is distilled at one distillery and then matured and bottled there. It’s a myth that blended whisky is inferior to single malt; in fact, it’s the biggest seller in the whisky category. As the only independent, SA-owned blended Scotch whisky, Bannermans is blended using more aged malt than traditional blends – five-to-six-year-old malts rather than the traditional three-year-old malts used in many blends – resulting in a bolder, more complex flavour and a longer, smoother finish. With older malts making the blend, it’s a steal at R199 a bottle! Whisky develops flavours during the distillation process and the slower the process, the fruitier the whisky, owing to the liquid’s prolonged contact with the copper still, as in the case of Bannermans. It also derives its flavours from the casks in which the liquid is matured, so if a whisky is matured in ex-Spanish sherry casks, balanced with ex-bourbon casks, it’ll create a rich, smooth character like Bannermans Finest Scotch Whisky. Bourbon whiskey (yes, spelt with an ‘e’) is as different to Scotch as America is to Scotland. For whiskey to be called bourbon, its mash (the mixture of grains from which it is distilled) must contain at least 51% corn and be distilled at 90% alcohol by volume (ABV) or less. The rest of the grain used to make it is usually a mixture of barley and rye. The liquid must be put into only new charred oak barrels at 62.5% ABV or less and it must be free from additives. The name bourbon comes from an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County in Kentucky, USA. The Buffalo Trace Distillery is the world’s most-awarded distillery (even if you include Scotch distilleries) so we will use their range of bourbons and rye whiskeys as examples. Made from the finest corn, rye and barley malt, Buffalo Trace is a bourbon whiskey aged over years in new oak barrels in century-old warehouses until it reaches the peak of its maturity. Well priced at R299 a bottle, it’s well worth testing it out if you think you’re up for something different in your whiskey journey! Sazerac Rye retails for about R549 a bottle and is a good example of a rye whiskey. It’s also the only one available in SA at the moment! The New Orleans original and a bartender’s favourite around the world, Sazerac Rye is distilled from at least 51% rye and you’re sure to impress next time you’re talking whiskey, if you have managed to get your hands on a bottle – the supply is very limited as no-one could’ve predicted the bourbon boom we’re currently experiencing six years ago, when it was laid down to mature!