hops, and then distill it, yeasts and all The distillate is aged in used oak barrels for a minimum of three years, then diluted with water to around 40% alcohol, and is usually chill-filtered Scotch whisky owes its special flavor largely to the barley malt Malt whiskies from Scotland’s west coast have a unique, smoky flavor that comes from the use of peat fire for drying the malt, and peaty water for mashing the grain before fermentation Peat, the mat of decaying and decayed vegetation that once was the cheapest fuel available in swampy areas of Britain, contributes volatile organic molecules to the brew that find their way into the distillate Most Irish whisky is made from a mixture of about 40% malted and 60% unmalted barley For this reason, and because it is potdistilled twice and then again in a column still, Irish whisky is milder than malt Scotch and even some Scotch blends American and Canadian Whiskeys North American whiskeys are produced mainly from the New World’s indigenous grain, maize The most prominent corn whiskey is bourbon, which is named for a county in Kentucky where maize grew well in colonial times, and where there was abundant water for both mashing the grains and cooling the distillate Food Words : Aperitif, Digestif These French words describe two functions attributed to concentrated alcohols in the Middle Ages, ideas that live on in both the words and drinking habits Aperitif comes from an Indo-European root meaning “to uncover, to open,” and is a drink to be had before a meal in order to open our system to the nourishment to come Digestif comes from an ancient root meaning “to act, to do,” and names a drink for the end of the meal that will stimulate our system to assimilate the meal’s nourishment ... where maize grew well in colonial times, and where there was abundant water for both mashing the grains and cooling the distillate Food Words : Aperitif, Digestif These French words describe two functions attributed... attributed to concentrated alcohols in the Middle Ages, ideas that live on in both the words and drinking habits Aperitif comes from an Indo-European root meaning “to uncover, to open,” and is a drink to be had... before a meal in order to open our system to the nourishment to come Digestif comes from an ancient root meaning “to act, to do,” and names a drink for the end of the meal that will stimulate our system to assimilate the meal’s