Whisky

Technology, Production and Marketing

Graham Stewart,Inge Russell

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780124046030
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Microbiology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing explains in technical terms the science and technology of producing whisky, combined with information from industry experts on successfully marketing the product. World experts in Scotch whisky provide detailed insight into whisky production, from the processing of raw materials to the fermentation, distillation, maturation, blending, production of co-products, and quality testing, as well as important information on the methodology used for packaging and marketing whisky in the twenty-first century. No other book covers the entire whisky process from raw material to delivery to market in such a comprehensive manner and with such a high level of technical detail.

• Only available work to cover the entire whisky process from raw material to delivery to the market in such a comprehensive manner
• Includes a chapter on marketing and selling whisky
• Foreword written by Alan Rutherford, former Chairman and Managing Director of United Malt and Grain Distillers Ltd.

Chapter 1

An introduction to whisk(e)y and the development of Scotch whisky

Graham Stewart

Inge Russell

Anne Anstruther

Abstract

Since the value of ethanol was discovered by early man, alcohol has shared his history. From the comparative potability and palatability of early brewed beverages to sterile and intoxicating distilled spirits, alcohol has become essential as a social and functional medium. As whisk(e)y, this alcohol has survived adulteration, taxation, prohibition and regulation. Epitomising purity and offering epicurean delight, whisk(e)y has been accepted worldwide. It engendered employment, enjoyment and economic benefit, adapting to the culture of each community. It has even arrived in space! Evolution is infinite, which leads us to the questions “Where next?”, “In how many directions?” and “How far?”

Keywords

History

Taxation

Excise

Regulations

Controls

Amalgamations

Early days

Recent research on humankind’s ability to metabolise alcohol, by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, suggests that this ability was present 10 million years ago in gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans when they first identified alcoholic fruit as a safe and consumable food (Dudley, 2004). Thus began our relationship with alcohol, which would in time become a safe (and social) drink and, in the correct proportions, an effective medicine and important for religious ceremonies. Most geographical regions provided raw materials suitable for brewing and oenology (beer from barley, wine from grapes, saké from rice, etc.). The earliest evidence of alcoholic beverages was found in China ca. 7000–6600 BC, where their consumption was probably common (McGovern et al., 2005). Eventually, through trial and error, the process, joys, and benefits of distillation were discovered. Early Egyptians used distillates to produce cosmetics and aromatics, and, reputedly, monks carried this knowledge from the Mediterranean to Ireland and then on to Scotland. It is believed that potable whisky was discovered in the search for the elixir of life (known by many as usque beatha). The monasteries retained exclusive whisky production until the 1500s. In 1545, Henry VIII dissolved the English monasteries and Scotland followed suit in the 1560s, allowing the knowledge of distillation to become wider spread. Each farm and large house owned its own still to preserve its cereal harvest excess. This distillate had to last until the next harvest, for all purposes (medicinal, rents, etc.), and was of course treasured as a rare and exhilarating beverage!

Effects of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions

The next four centuries saw radical changes in the relationship between whisky and people. The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions steadily improved farming efficiency. Ease, speed, and volume of transport gradually increased as canals and roads were built and steam-powered boats reduced travel time and costs. Grain could be imported quickly and less expensively. Redundant land workers sought work in urban areas as mechanisation increased production. The distillers’ share of the potential market increased, and governments kept an eye on their profits.

Four main forces impacted the evolving distilling industry: (1) weather, (2) process efficiency, (3) taxation, and (4) food and drink regulations. Long-term weather was (and still is) unpredictable. Bans on distilling occurred in 1579, 1660, 1757–1760, and in the 1840s due to particularly bad harvests and the necessity of reserving the grain for food. These restrictions saw the demise of many good distilleries, but those that remained became stronger.

Taxes were raised to fund wars. The first excise duty raised by the Scottish government in 1644 supported its army. All people resist taxes, through umbrage or necessity, and many distilleries went underground. The 1725 Malt Tax caused a brewers’ strike in Edinburgh and rioting in Glasgow, and illicit distilling flourished. The 1757–1760 ban on distilling exempted private stills that were up to 10 gallons in capacity. In 1779, this maximum was reduced to 2 gallons. In 1781, when private distilling became illegal, smuggling increased. Meanwhile, famine and land management forced many Scots and Irish to migrate to Canada and to the United States, where their distilling skills were welcomed. Canada’s first distillery opened in 1769 and numerous U.S. distilleries opened shortly thereafter.

Crippling taxes, changes in regulations, and the need for survival led legal distillers in Scotland to produce quantity at the expense of quality. However, the Highland distillers could not expand to meet the high taxes, and illicit distilling increased yet further. Consequently, the best whisky was illegal! In 1784, in Scotland, the Wash Act defined the Highland Line and reduced taxes for the Highland distillers but stipulated severe restrictions. The Lowland distillers increased output at the expense of quality but were decimated by subsequent restrictions and taxes. By 1816, the government had begun a regime more suited to the larger producers (who were more easily controlled) with passage of the Small Stills Act (no still under 40 gallons in capacity) and then the 1823 Excise Act, which required distillers to become licensed. In this way, the government finally gained some control, and illicit stills and smuggling faded.

In 1831, an Irish exciseman, Aeneas Coffey, perfected the continuous still, which was rapidly embraced by brandy, rum, and some Scotch whisky distillers. Preferring their smooth, flavoursome, and successful thrice-distilled whiskies, the Irish did not embrace the blandness and volume offered by the Coffey still. In less than 20 years, the first whiskies had been successfully blended to suit the London palates and, with its increased popularity, whisky’s reputation spread. At this point, whisky was considered the “poor man’s strong alcoholic drink”. Adulteration of food and drink was rife, many with poisonous substances (Burns, 2012). Each change of hands from source to customer introduced a new watering down and more adulterants to mask the change. Content was less important than effect. The adulterated whisky often caused blindness, violence, and death, particularly among the poor, due to the additives and fusel oils, as the whisky was still sold immature. Temperance societies gathered strength from the 1830s, and by the 1860s whisky consumption had dropped by a third (MacLean, 2003).

Controls, taxation, and amalgamation

In 1865, eight Lowland grain distilleries combined to become the Scotch Distillers Association (MacLean, 2003). The 1872, the U.K. Act for Regulating the Sale of Intoxicating Liquors made an early attempt at food and drink regulation (though not extended to Scotland) together with the Act to Amend the Law for the Prevention of Adulteration of Food and Drink and Drugs (Burns, 2012). By the 1880s, the steady advance of the beetle Phylloxera vastatrix and a succession of poor grape harvests had destroyed wine and cognac production in France. Brandy, the preference of the upper classes, became very rare, and whisky was ready to take its place. Demand worldwide rose and exports escalated, but, without proper controls, enthusiastic investments in new distilleries created a massive whisky surplus. This resulted in a catastrophic collapse of Scotch whisky sales in 1900, causing the public to lose faith in the industry; many companies and individuals were bankrupted.

In a world becoming increasingly exacting, potable whisky needed an identity, which could be an emphasis on single malt, the blend, or its production origin. In 1908, a Royal Commission was formed to investigate the whisky situation. A year later, they defined whiskey as “a spirit obtained by distillation from a mash of cereal grains saccharified by the diastase of malt” and Scotch whisky as “whiskey so defined, distilled in Scotland” (MacLean, 2003). This was a momentous decision, which would allow whiskies the freedom to maintain their identities with pot and Coffey stills, while working together to extend the product’s range and capacity to further worldwide appeal.

In 1912, the Wine and Spirit Brand Association was formed, which would become the...