1960 The U K B G Guide to Drinks (3 rd edition revised)

Part IV

SECTION IV

WfflSKY

BOURBON WHISKEY A whiskey distilled in the U.S.A. from a fermented mash of grain of which no less than 51% is maize grain. The name is due to the fact that the first whiskey distilled in Kentucky was obtained from ground maize at the miU of one Elijah Craig, in Georgetown, Bourbon County. It was called Bourbon County whisky at first, and the name Bourbon whiskey has been used ever since for whiskey distilled wholly or chiefly from maize. IRISH WHISKEY A grain spirit distilled from malted barley, and in pot stills. The chief difference between Irish and Scotch whiskies is one of flavour; it is due to the fact that, in Ireland, the malt is dried in a kiln which has a solid floor, so that the smoke from the fuel used does not come in contact with the grain, whereas in Scotland, the malt is "smoke-cured ". RYE WHISKY A straight whisky distilled from a fermented mash of grain of which not less than 60% is rye grain. SCOTCH WHISKY Scotch whisky is made in Scotland, and cannot be made anywhere else. You can take all your apparatus from Scotland to any other part of the world you choose, as well as the barley and the distillery-workers ; but you will not be able to produce Scotch Whisky. The experiment has been tried again and again, but it always fads. And nobody can tell you why. The soft burn-water from the peat mosses combined with the Highland air may, and probably does, account for the difference ; but nobody knows for certain. Scotch whisky is a very simple product—originally an off-shoot from farming. The barley is converted into malt

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