“Whisky is liquid sunshine.”
― George Bernard Shaw.

Whisky is a sipping type of drink. Contrary to college days, it should not be taken as a shot. Before you add any ice, water, or any other mix, take a moment to smell the aromas and take a small sip. Enjoy the different taste, the effort, the love and care that was put in to make this magical mixture. Take your time. Don’t rush the process, enjoy it. Once you are familiar with a whisky, you can experiment with various drinking mixture and techniques. The common terms and drinking style are: Neat, On the Rocks, with Water.

How to Find Your Favorite Way to Drink Whisky

Finding your favorite whisky consumption method begins with trial and error. You have to both try different types of whiskies and different ways it is served. Like wine, there are many combinations, different types and different origins. Read out beginner’s guide to whiskies to learn about the origins, types and how it is made. The taste varies especially if you are having different kind of whiskies from Scotch, Bourbon, Rye and depending on the blend each distilleries use. The following ways are methods of whisky consumption.

Whisky Neat

Asking to be pour a glass of whisky neat means a straight pour by itself. No added ice or mixture, just the whisky and you. The “neat“, “straight-up“, “up” style is popular amongst whiskey enthusiasts because its the purest form of the whisky from the bottle, the way the distillery would want you to have it. If you are having a new whisky for the first time, I recommend drinking it neat first. Adding ice or water lowers the ABV of the whisky and changes its taste (sometime for the better). Taste it as is and if its too strong or you don’t like the current taste, add couple drops of water to change the flavor and strength. How you enjoy the whisky is up to you.

Whisky On the Rocks

Ordering a whisky “On the Rocks” is simply ice with your whisky. Ice chills the liquor and can enhance or detract from the taste.I usually find that it hides the smell of the whiskies. On the Rocks is a well liked way to drink whiskies by many drinkers. The ice is usually made from tap water and full of chlorine helping to mask the flavor of strong whiskies. Ice also melts down as you keep sipping on your whisky and diluting the taste. It is recommend to use large ice cube or ice ball as they melt at a slower pace than small ice cubes. If you prefer to drink your whiskies chilled but not diluted, you can remove the ice with a spoon after the spirit has been chilled.

Whisky With H2O

I loved this Blackadder Raw Cask. Had to add a drop of H2O to make it open it up.

The first time I added a few drops of water, I was surprised by the sudden change of flavor of the whisky. How can adding just a few drop of water change its taste so much? Adding a single or few drops of water opens up the whisky by breaking its surface tension that hold its molecules together. When you break apart the molecules, the process releases small amounts of heat resulting in more fragrance out. Its like adding oxygen to wine, it opens up the flavors and changes the aromas. With the aromas released, you can enjoy and appreciate the whisky even more. Its easy to add drops until you find the flavor profile that suits you but be careful not to add too much and over dilute your whisky. For high-proof whiskies such as this Blackadder Raw Cask, adding water to dilute this 126.8 proof whisky soften the kick of the whisky while letting the flavors come to you. It makes the whole experience better because drinking this whisky straight is like drinking a punch to your mouth! It is hard to enjoy a strong whisky if every sip taste like it will smack you upside down. However, If you find yourself to have added too much water and over-diluted the whisky, simply add more whisky!

Whisky As a Cocktail

Are you out about with friends at a local bar? Perhaps on a date or just simply enjoying happy hour without the want to get all drunk? Take a sip of a whisky cocktail my friend! Its a perfect way to enjoy whisky with a twist (pun intended)!

“Here’s to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned

A cocktail follows your mood. How do you feel that day? Do you feel it went like an old-fashioned or was it more of a Manhattan? Perhaps an awful day and you need the Irish Royale or a Japanese Highball? You can have a favorite brand of whiskies and be able to enjoy in many different ways by drinking different cocktails made using that one whisky. Its good to know a few good whisky cocktails you would enjoy for those classic cocktail parties or group gatherings. Holding a cocktail gives you the impression of being more approachable and down to earth as oppose to the fellow with no drinks in his hands.

There are moments for simple whiskies and there are moments for whisky cocktails. The trick is to differentiate the two. Plus there is a fun element of getting a cocktail made just for you, a brand new taste with sugary delight.

What is Whisky or Whiskey?

Whisky or Whiskey is a distilled alcoholic beverage produced from fermented grain mash often made up for barley, rye, wheat and corn. Whisky is produced worldwide and typically in: Ireland, Scotland, USA, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, India and many others.

The spelling Whisky and Whiskey is used to describe the same spirit but each of different origin. If the spirit is produced in Scotland, Japan or Canada, it is written as whisky. Its its made in the US or Ireland, it is written as whiskey. For simplicity, we will be using whisky in this article.

Why Drink Whisky?

Whisky is the perfect drink. Its made with care and time, it brings out your inner self and like life, should be each with each sip.

How is Whisky Made?

Whisky is made using various grains that are malted (germination process to bring out soluble sugar from the grains to make alcohol), mashed (mixing of the malted grains with pure water), fermented, distilled, and matured (aged in wood barrel). The Malting process activates the enzymes present in the cereal grains to convert complex starches already present in the grains into simpler sugars that can be fermented by yeast. Barley contains a large amount of these enzymes compared to other grains.  Malted barley is often combined with other grains when creating a wort (the liquid extracted from mash), because the enzymes produced by the barley will break down the starches in the other grains more efficiently than if those other grains had been malted on their own.

The History Channel in its series, Modern Marvel, has a documentary about Whisky worth watching.

The Whisky remedy for the common cold: a Hot Toddy is a drink made using whisky believed to help fight the common cold back in the days. You can make it with hot water, whisky, herbal tea, honey, lemon juice and sometime spice such as cinnamon.

Different type of Whisky

Fundamentally, whisky has two main distinction; malt and grain whisky. Malt whisky is made from malted barley, while grain whisky is made from different types of grains, typically rye, corn, or wheat. The two are very different in taste, especially by which distillery produced it, and I encourage you to try them both.

Malt Whisky

Malt Whisky is the first type of whisky, mainly produced in Scotland, it is the traditional and popular type of whisky. It is made entirely from malted barley with usually multiple distillation and aged in matured oak casks. It contains only malted barley as the only grain in the mash bill (which is why enthusiasts consider malt whiskies the purest form of whiskies). Malt whiskies can be blended or single. Single Malt means the bottle is made using malts made in one distillery whereas Blended Malts are a mixture of malted whiskies from different distilleries. While Scotland is the predominant producer of malt whiskies (by law, Scotch whisky needs to be made 100% from Barley), numerous American Whisky distilleries have been coming out with great Single Malt whiskies such as Corsair’s Triple Smoke malt whisky.

An example of a single malt scotch whisky

Grain Whisky

Grain whisky is everything else. Usually containing wheat, corn, rye and in addition barley. American whiskies (Bourbon, Rye, Tennessee whisky are grain whiskies). Single Grain whisky is grain whisky made in one distillery. Grain whiskies in general are produced for blending purposes at distilleries. It is matured for a short time and cheaper to produce than malt whiskies. A single distillery can produce both Single Malt and Grain whiskies.

Grain whisky from Nikka’s Miyagikyo distillery made using their coffey stills.

Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey

Bourbon is a type of whiskey produced throughout the United States (it must be produced in the US to be called bourbon). Bourbon whiskies are made of at least 51% corn and a mixture of other grains. Kentucky is predominant producer of bourbon home to numerous distilleries such as Angel’s Envy (one of my favorite), Heaven’s Hill, Maker’s Mark, Corsair, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve etc.

By U.S. law, a no age bourbon must be aged for at least 4 years in fresh, toasted casks made from American white oak. A finish or extra maturation similar to Scotch whisky is not allowed. If the whiskey is not blended, it may be called ‘straight bourbon’.

Note: we are using the word “whiskey” as we are talking about American Whiskies.

Tennessee Whiskey is American whiskey produced in the state of Tennessee. It has the same mixture and ingredients as bourbon (51%+ corn) but adds a filtration process after the spirit is distilled. The whiskey spirit is filtered through a sugar maple charcoal before it is filled into a cask. This filtering is known as the Lincoln County Process and distinguishes Tennessee Whiskey from Bourbon.

I’m sipping on this bourbon as I write this article. Four roses… as sweet as my heart.

Rye Whiskey

What does the whisky age mean? Is the label 10 years mean the bottle has been kept for 10 years?

The age statement in whisky bottles refers to the youngest age of one of the blend of whisky in the bottle. For example, if you have a bottle that says 12 years old, it means the youngest mix is 12 years old mixed with other older blends. Distilleries mix different age blends to reach a particular flavor profile. The exception is when the bottle is labelled single barrel or single cask as it would be not a mix but from the same cask. By law, if there is a age label, every blend in the bottle must be at least that age (that 30 year whisky could contain whiskies older than 30 year old in that bottle).

NAS stands for No Age Statement. Whiskies with NAS have no age labelled on the bottle and getting more popular. The surge in popularity of whiskies has prompted many distilleries to release earlier batches to keep up with rising demand. An example would be the Hibiki Japanese Harmony by Suntory Distillery, the same distillery that makes the Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask which in 2015, Jim Murray, author of The Whisky Bible, named the best whisky in the world. After the Yamazaki Sherry Cast was voted as the best in the world, a huge demand for Japanese whiskies took place all over the world. There was not enough aged whiskies to keep up with the demand and the distilleries could not produced any more aged bottles (they can’t go back in time and make more) as there are limited aged supplies. There was no way to predict the sudden rise of demand 10+ years later.

By removing the age statement, whisky distilleries can release more whiskies with more flexibility to meet demand more easily.

I hope this was a good lesson for you all. The next post will be how I got started tasting whisky. Let me know if you have any questions!

Why should the Modern Day Man learn about Whisky?

Learning about whisky isn’t to sound smart in a conversation or in a group setting. It’s about learning one of the simple pleasures in life and getting familiar with a gentlemen’s treasure. Well known playwright George Bernard Shaw once famously said “Whisky is liquid sunshine.” And he isn’t far from the truth.

Whisky (also spelled Whiskey. I’ll explain the spelling in a later post.) has a deep and meaningful history behind it. There is a whole rebellion surrounding it called the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 due to settlers in western Pennsylvania uprising to protest a liquor tax imposed by the new US government. To these settlers, whiskey was an informal currency, a means of livelihood, and an enlivener of a harsh existence and while the tax was meant to pay for the national debt, it threatened the life of these people. Eventually the rebellion was suppressed by excessive militia force and the tax was imposed.

Today, whisky is a spirit widely consumed throughout the world. According to statista.com in 2014, France, known for its fine wine and cognac, consume the most whisky in the world. Its not surprising either as a fellow Frenchmen, I too am in love with this liquid sunshine.

The whisky trend is rapidly increasing with more cocktails than ever before, more awards and trade shows and more distilleries opening. Some whiskey cocktails are: Old-Fashion, Manhattan, Irish-Whisky Punch, the Witty Comeback, Sazerac, Whisky Sour, Boulevardier, Highball and so on.

Whisky is portrait as a gentlemen’s drink as seen in movies and TV shows such as Anchorman, Lost in Translation, Skyfall, Suits and many more. Knowing a bit about whiskey allows you educate your fellow man about its delight, showcase your cultured self and win the love of your life. Imagine being at a romantic bar where your date asked you for drink recommendations. You can introduce a good old Boulevardier and sound all fancy, wining you the date for the night (obviously I’m exaggerating). But if you find this drink interesting, the different mixes and origins, educating yourself to find out what you like and what you don’t is the best way to prevent someone from giving you a crappy drink. Show some class and try out some whiskeys.

Excited? Interested? Our next blog post, we’ll show you the beginner’s guide to whiskies and how it is made. Just what you need to know to get started.