Tippling point | How do you like your whisky, with or without an ‘e’?  

We have been into whiskies since the day we started drinking but how many of us read a label and see an Irish Single Pot Still apart from a bourbon? What the heck man, it is all whisky, right? Wait. How did you just spell it? Whisky or whiskey? That letter 'e' itself matters big in the world of spirits—the world is split into two, with countries like Scotland, Canada and Japan shunning the 'e', while the US and Ireland holding on to it religiously).

This week we are going to see the different types of whiskeys out there in the market.

Scotch

Made in Scotland with either malt or grain, it is Scotch that has made whiskies this popular in the world. Scotch is Class. Scotch is style. Scotch is a statement.

The law stipulates that the drink should not only be made in Scotland but it also has to go through some rigorous procedures to call itself Scotch. Each bottle should have an age statement and anything less than three years old is haram in the Scotch whisky bible. While blended whisky is the product of blending different types of whiskies from different distilleries, a single malt, which is considered to be the most prestigious, carries the unique signature of a single distillery.

A file picture of a bottle of single malt scotch whisky Macallan. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Different regions in Scotland produce different styles of whiskies and so we have types like Lowland, Highland, Islay, Speyside, Campbelltown, etc.

A 72-year-old bottle of Glen Grant single malt whisky from Scotland fetched more than $54,000 in an auction in Hong Kong on January 29.

Connoisseurs don't wolf down Scotch whisky to get drunk, instead, they make an art out of sipping it slowly, meditating on life, art and philosophy.

Irish

Eternally at war with the Scots over the paternity of whisky, Irish whiskeys are made from a mash of malt and can only be distilled with water.

A minimum of three years of aging inside a wooden cask makes this whiskey smooth and easy for your palate. Traditionally Irish whiskey is triple distilled in a copper pot, while its counterpart, the Scotch, undergoes only double distillation. No wonder that Irish whiskey is less smoky than the Scotch.

American

American whiskey is an altogether different expression when you compare it to the continental ones. To begin with, since it is rarely smoked with peat, you will find the drink less peaty and less smoky. Which means, it is sweeter to your palate. Unlike Scotch, which is aged in old and used barrels, American whiskey is aged in new charred oak barrels from which its distinct aroma evolves. There are different kinds of American whiskeys.

Bottles of Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey await packaging for shipment at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S., June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston - RC1982252CE0

Bourbon, the most popular of the American style, is made from corn (the spirit needs to have at least 51 percent corn to be called bourbon). Aged in new and charred oak barrels, bourbons do not take any additives or colouring agents.

Tennessee is similar to bourbon in terms of grains used but the spirit undergoes some charcoal filtering that takes away its sharp edge. It is made in, well no points for guessing, Tennessee (Jack Daniel's is a Tennessee).

America also produces some phenomenal rye and wheat whiskeys apart from many bold and wonderful single malts.

Canadian 

Canadian whisky like Scotch must be barrel-aged for at least three years. In the past, Canadians depended on rye to make their whiskies as it was the only crop that could withstand the harsh winter of the country. But today, unless specifically mentioned, Canadian whiskies contain mostly corn rather than rye (technology has helped other crops to fight the snowstorms and take root).

The law stipulates that Canadian whisky be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada. Since the distilleries in the country are not known to be generous in sharing their wares, Canadian whisky is generally made from a single distillery.

Japanese

They started out as ardent fans of Scotch whiskies.

Though a bit late on the scene, Japanese whisky made significant improvements in the late twentieth century to court a lot of attention.

Just think, in 2015 Jim Murrey's Whisky Bible, the most prominent guide to the world's whisky rankings, adjudged the Japanese Yamasaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 as the best in the world. It shows far the Japanese have come and emerged from the shadow of Scotch, whom they modelled upon, only a few decades ago.

Japanese whisky is bold and complex, and confidently takes on the palates of millions of whisk(e)y aficionados all over the world.

(This article has used both the spellings—whisky and whiskey—just to be fair).

(Manu Remakant is a freelance writer who also runs a video blog — A Cup of Kavitha — introducing world poetry to Malayalis. The views expressed here are personal.)