Whisky/ Whiskey - a work in progress
Created | Updated Jun 7, 2005
Whisky1 or Whiskey2 is an alchololic spirit. It is distilled from a fermented mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn, and matured in wood casks, usually for three or more years. Inferior grades are made from potatoes, beets, or other roots. Scotch whisky, usually a blend, takes its dry, somewhat smoky flavor from the barley malt, cured with peat, used in its preparation. The somewhat similar Irish whiskey, for which no peat is used, has a full, sweet taste. American whiskeys, classified as rye or as bourbon (a corn liquor), are higher in flavor and deeper in color than Scotch or Irish whiskeys. Canadian whiskey, characteristically light, is produced from cereal grain only. First distilled in monasteries in 11th-cent. England, whiskey has been manufactured commercially since the 16th cent.
Research has been undertaken to make this into a definative guide if you want to know when it's finalised post below. Until then have a complimentary |_|
