Egy kis összefoglaló a skót whisky történetéről.
When you think of Scotland, you automatically think of whisky. Scotland is the home of Scotch whisky, as Scottish as bagpipes and kilts. The word whisky actually comes from the Irish for “water of Life” or in Gaelic “Uisce Beatha”. Some of the most famous brands are Scottish, for example Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s.
The process of making whisky is called distilling, and the place where whisky is produced is called a distillery. Scottish whisky is spelt differently from Irish whiskey, and the distillation process is different, but the basic ingredients are the same: a combination of barley, grain, water and yeast. In America, most whiskies are made from corn and are called bourbons. The word Bourbon can only be used for American whiskies.
There are two main types of Scotch. The first is malt whisky, which is made from malted barley at a single distillery. The second type is a blended whiskey, which blends different types of whiskies and different ages of whiskies into one blend. In this way a master blender can come up with different flavours and tastes to produce a unique whisky. Whisky is also mixed with other cereal grains to produce fine grain whisky, but the main ingredient is always barley.
The process starts with barley and other grains mixed together. Malted barley is barley mixed with water and then heated with peat fires and added smoke. This gives Scottish whisky its unique smoky and peaty taste. The cereals are ground down into flour and pure spring water is added. Then, it is heated, yeast is added to ferment the whisky, and it is ready to distil. When the whisky is distilled, the water and impurities are removed. Then the master blender will taste the whisky to see if it is good or not. Finally the whisky is put into a barrel and left to mature. It can take many years for a whisky to mature. The older the whisky the better it is.
Scotland may be the traditional and spiritual home of whisky, but there is a country where whisky production is on the increase, namely India. The top selling brand of whisky in the world is Bagpiper whisky, which is made in Bangalore in India. In fact, Bangalore is fast becoming the whisky production capital of the world. Five of the top selling brands are now produced by Indian companies. India is also one of the fastest growing markets for whisky consumption. Bagpiper alone produces 16 million cases of whisky per year.
So, let us raise a glass to whisky and toast to the water of life, the golden nectar of Scotland, drunk from Belfast to Bangalore and all places in between. A drink for happy times, a drink for sad times, a drink for wild times and a drink for mild times, a drink to be savoured and a drink to be loved. Indian whisky is made from molasses, therefore has more in common with rum, rather than real whisky. This has led to a conflict between Europe and India over the use of the terms whisky and scotch.
bagpipe – skót duda
kilt – skót szoknya
brand – márka
distilling – szeszfőzés
distillery – szeszfőzde
to spell, spelt, spelt – betűzni
distillation process – szeszfőzési folyamat
barley – árpa
grain – gabona
yeast – élesztő
malt – maláta
malted barley – csíráztatott árpa
blended – kevert
to come up with – előrukkol valamivel
cereal grain – gabonaféle
peat fire – tőzeg tűz
peaty – tőzeges
impurity – tisztátalanság
barrel – hordó
to mature – érlel
on the increase – növekvőben van
consumption – fogyasztás
to toast to – pohárköszöntőt mond
savoured – ízesített
molasses – melasz
to have in common – közös bennük
