Whiskey
Irish Whiskey is very similar to that of Scotch malt whisky except a few essential
differences. The principal cereal is barley, however only a small amount is
malted, the rest is dried and milled into a fine powder, thus exposing a huge
amount of starch. In addition, a small quantity of oats is added. This is to
balance the loss in yield as barley alone has a reduced efficiency in fermentation.
Unlike Scotch malt, there are three distillations and these occur in the much
larger pot-stills. Finally, the Irish malt will yield a condensed product of
about 86% (compared to 69-70% of Scotch malt). The minimum maturation period
for this is 5 years and is often in the region of 12 years, this is due to the
increased time required for pot-still whiskeys.