Whiskey Terminology

Whiskey Terms

• ABV (Alcohol by Volume) is the percentage of alcohol in a spirit, doubled to yield the "proof of spirit".
• Aldehydes are aromatic compounds found in oak, contributing to a floral/fruity flavor.
• Angel's Share is the volume of whiskey lost during aging due to evaporation through the barrel.

Whiskey Production

• Barley is a grain used in brewing and distilling, with abundant enzymes for converting starches into sugars.
• Beer is the fermented, undistilled liquid that is the first step in making whiskey.
• Beer Still is a single column still used for first distillation in making modern bourbon and rye whiskey.
• Blended Whiskey is a blend of straight whiskey and grain neutral spirits, with at least 20% straight whiskey.

Whiskey Types

• Bourbon is American whiskey made from at least 51% corn, malt, and either rye or wheat, distilled to a max of 80% ABV and aged in new charred oak barrels.
• Corn Whiskey is whiskey made from a large proportion of corn, often aged for a short period in uncharred/used oak barrels.
• Grain Whiskey is whiskey distilled to a very high proof using a column/Coffey still and aged in oak barrels for blending.

Distillation

• Distillation is the extraction and concentration of alcohol from a fermented grain liquid using controlled heat.
• Cuts are the points in pot still distillation where the stream of spirits is diverted to get the maximum amount of clean spirit.
• Doubler is a simple pot still used to polish the spirit from the beer still.
• Extractive Distillation is a technique used by some Canadian distillers to add water to high-proof spirit to float unwanted compounds off the top, leaving a pure spirit.

Aging and Maturation

• Barrel is a container built from curved oak staves, usually charred, that imports flavor and color to the spirit through chemical changes from contact with the wood and slow evaporation.
• Char is the thin layer of burnt wood on the inside of a barrel, required for bourbon and other American whiskeys.
• Cask is a generic term for barrel, often used in Scotland and Ireland.
• First Fill is when barrels previously used for aging bourbon/wines are used for aging whiskey, yielding a whiskey with more character of the younger wood and previous liquid.

Whiskey Terminology

• Cooper is a person who makes, repairs, or resizes barrels.
• Draft is the leftover grains from the fermentation and distilling process, often used for cattle feed or biogas generation.
• Dry House is where the spent grains from American-style mashing distillation go to be dried and processed for animal feed.
• Ester is an aromatic chemical compound derived from aldehydes, yielding fruit, spicy, or smoky aromas.
• Flavoring Whiskey is the lower-proof, higher-flavor component of Canadian whiskey.