Walking in a whiskey wonderland!

While whiskey is often thought of as an Irish or Scottish spirit, there are many types made in the United States, Canada, and Japan, too. These whiskeys are created by a variety of distillation methods and aging techniques and vary from one another greatly. Whether you’re new to the world of whiskey or just want to refresh your knowledge, you’ve come to the right place.

Whiskey or Whisky?

Whisky is the spelling used by Scotland and most areas of the globe in trade with the United Kingdom like Canada and Japan. Whiskey spelling is used by the Irish and used to be interchangeable in the United States prior to Irish immigration in the 19th century. After that, the Whiskey spelling is the most dominant in the United States. A small difference in Gaelic dialect led to this change.

What is Whiskey?

Whiskey is a distilled liquor made from fermented grain mash (commonly barley, corn, rye, or wheat). Forcing grains to sprout will produce the sugars needed for fermentation. In order to be considered whiskey, it must be aged in oak barrels, which gives it its brown color. Otherwise the distillation is left clear and it is then labeled as moonshine.

What’s Whiskey Made From?

Different kinds of whiskey all have their own unique flavor characteristics depending on the grains used to start the fermentation process. Scotch and Japanese Whisky are made from malted barley, while the United States and Canada mainly use corn and rye. In Ireland, malted and unmalted barley is most common.