Contents
Scotch Basics
Types of Scotch
Scotch Drinks from the Four Seasons Restaurant
Basic Godfather
Benson Express
Blushing Scot
Bobby Burns Martini
Fancy Scotch
Four Seasons Summer Blossom
Hole in One
Irish Rusty Nail
Joe Collins
Miami Beach Cocktail
Ogdon Special
Rob Roy
Rusty Nail
Scitalina
Scotch Ale
Scotch Alexander
Scotch and Soda
Scotch Blossom
Scotch by the Pool
Scotch Cablegram
Scotch Cider
Scotch Cooler
Scotch Gimlet
Scotch Highball
Scotch Irish Shillelagh
Scotch Milk Punch
Scotch Mist
Scotch Old Fashioned
Scotch on the Grill
Scotch on the Rocks
Scotch Radke
Scotch Rickey
Scotch Sour
Scotch Stinger
Scotch Street
Summer Scotch Cocktail
Tipperary Scotch Cocktail
Learn more with these titles from Barnes & Noble
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- A brief history of Scotch and the basics of how Scotch is made
- A rundown of different types of Scotch, so you’ll know what you’re buying
- Scotch cocktail recipes from the Four Seasons Restaurant
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Scotch Basics
Scotch, also called Scotch whiskey (spelled “whisky” in Scotland), is an alcohol prized for its signature smokiness. Scotch is produced exclusively in Scotland—by law, no whiskey produced anywhere else can be called Scotch—and it must meet strict guidelines in order to be considered and sold as Scotch.
A Short History of Scotch
Around 1300 A.D., Irish monks introduced distillation to the Scots, who up to then had drunk rudimentary, low-alcohol ales. Over the next 400 years, malted barley slowly emerged as the preferred grain for Scottish spirit-makers who painstakingly crafted single batches of strongly flavored Scotches in small pot stills made of copper.
In 1830, inventor Aeneas Coffey introduced the columnar Coffey still, which allowed the large-scale distillation of wheat and corn spirits. By the 1850s, spirit-makers were blending
single malt whiskey with mass-produced grain whiskey to create a smoother product, blended
Scotch, which quickly became more marketable than its artisanal single malt counterpart.
How Scotch Is Made
Scotch is made in a six-step process. Decisions made during each of these stages affect the taste and character of the Scotch:
- Malting: Malting the barley seeds involves germinating them to spur the conversion of starch into fermentable sugar. The germinated seeds are then smoked (often using smoke from burning peat) and dried.
- Mashing: The malted barley is ground (sometimes along with other grains) and mixed with hot water to form a mash, which with further steeping becomes a sugary liquid called wort.
- Fermentation: The wort is moved to a large vessel, where it’s cooled and combined with yeast. The mixture ferments, producing a liquid called wash, which has an alcohol content of 5–7% by volume.
- Distillation: The wash is distilled by heating it to the boiling point of alcohol, which isn’t as high as the boiling point of water. The alcohol evaporates and moves through the still and then condenses in another chamber back into a liquid called low wine, which has an alcohol content of 20% by volume. Most Scotch is distilled a second time (double-distilled) to produce a liquid with an alcohol content of 60–75% by volume; some Scotches, though, are triple-distilled. By law, Scotch may not be distilled to an alcohol content of more than 94.8% by volume.
- Maturation: Scotch must be matured in oak casks for at least three years, and many Scotches are aged for considerably longer. There is quite a bit of debate about how much aging is ideal for Scotch, though Scotches of greater age are generally more expensive. The type of cask can affect both the flavor and color of the Scotch, though many Scotch makers also add caramel color to darken their Scotches. Old sherry casks were traditionally used for aging, though today many Scotch producers use port, madeira, and even beer casks to give their Scotch an exotic “finishing touch.”
- Bottling: After aging, the Scotch, which must be at least 40% alcohol by volume, is transferred to bottles. Some Scotch is chilled to close to the freezing point of water and passed through a filter before bottling in order to remove sediment and other compounds that can develop during aging. This chill filtration stops the Scotch from becoming hazy when poured over ice, but many Scotch connoisseurs complain that it also negatively affects both the flavor and body of the Scotch. In general, superior Scotches are not chill-filtered.
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