On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1441

fromablendofvarieties,sometoosouror
bitterforeating.Theapplesareslowly
fermentedintocideroverthecourseof
severalcoolweeksintheautumn,andthe
cideristhendistilledineitherpotorcolumn
stills,dependingonthedistrict.Thedistillate
isthenmaturedinoldbarrelsforaminimum
oftwoyears.Slivovitz,aBalkanplum
alcohol,isalsobarrel-aged.
Whiskies and Whiskeys Whiskies (United
Kingdom) and whiskeys (elsewhere) are
spiritsthathavebeendistilledfromfermented
grains, mainly barley, maize, rye, and wheat,
and then aged in barrels. The term comes
from a barley distillate of medieval Britain,
butisnowappliedtolargelymaizedistillates
in the United States and Canada, and mixed
graindistillatesinmanycountries.
Scotch and Irish Whiskies There are three
kinds of Scotch whisky. One,malt whisky, is
made in the Highlands and islands entirely


frommaltedbarley.It’sdistilledtwiceinpot
stillstoabout70%alcohol,andhasastrong,
distinctive flavor. Another, grain whisky, is
lessflavorfulandlesscostly;itismadeinthe
lowlandsfromvariouscerealsandjustasmall
portion(10–15%)ofmaltedbarleytoconvert
their starches into sugars, and distilled in a
continuousstilltoaneutral95%alcohol.The

thirdandmostcommonisablendofmaltand
grain whiskies, with grain whisky accounting
for40–70%.Suchblendingbeganinthe1860s
for economic reasons, and turned out to
produce a milder, more widely appealing
drinkjustintimetoreplacebrandywhenthe
insect scourge phylloxera devastated
European vineyards in the 1870s and 1880s.
This is when Scotch developed its
international reputation. Today, Scotch
connoisseurs prize the distinctive “singlemalt” whiskies produced by the few
remainingsmalldistillersofall-maltwhisky.
Whiskymakersproducebeer,omittingthe