An Introduction to Single Malt
Single malt Scotch whisky has been made for centuries.
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It’s a tradition refined over the years by generations of skilled craftsmen so that every ‘dram’ is a small glass of history in its own right.’ Although Scotch is considered an extremely complex and varied drink, it is created using only three simple ingredients, malted barley, yeast and water.
The history, rarity and uniqueness of single malt Scotch whisky, means that human powered malting and the process for creating an inimitable single malt, always remains as true to its past as possible.
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Malt
First the barley is malted. It is immersed or steeped in water, and then using wheelbarrows and malt shovels, it is spread out on a malting floor roughly eight inches to one foot deep. To avoid overheating, the barley is continually turned by the ‘maltman’ during this process.
Once the barley roots form the germ, the sugar from the malt is used up and the germination process is stopped. The malt is then ready for drying and heating.
The Malt is spread onto a perforated drying floor above the kiln and is heated to 70°C. The exhaust air is sucked up through the malt removing the humidity, and is released through the traditional ‘pagoda’ shaped chimneys initiated by Charles Doig.
The eventual smokiness of taste is dependent on the how long the malt is dried for. Further distinct individual ‘peaty’ smokiness is created when peat is added to the kiln fire.