On the Whiskey Trail

Barley, yeast and pure water are the simple ingredients for malt whisky - but each whisky has a different flavour depending on where it is made. That's just part of the mystery and romance of Scotland's national drink. For centuries the Gaelic-speaking clans produced "uisge beatha", meaning "water of life", long before it became an internationally-renowned drink.

Now, whisky is one of the most important and characteristic Scottish exports. But to this day, there is still an element of mystery about the making of malt whisky from the simple ingredients of barley, water, yeast and, sometimes, peat smoke. There are two main types of whisky - malt and grain.

Malt whisky, which connoisseurs claim has a more sophisticated flavour and bouquet and also more prestige, is made with malted barley. Grain whisky also contains malted barley, with unmalted barley and maize. Both types are used in the whisky blending process. Many of today's leading brands both in Scotland and overseas are blended whiskies made from many different individual distillations - with deluxe blends containing a higher proportion of malt whiskies.

Blends which contain only malt whiskies are known as "vatted malts" but many whisky enthusiasts prefer to taste and familiarise themselves with Scotland's range of "single malts" which are unblended distillations from individual distilleries. In prestige terms, most emphasis is on malt whisky made with a pot still, as opposed to grain whisky made with a patent still.

Malts are sometimes classified into four main types: Highland, Lowland, Islay (from the island) and Campbeltown (meaning from the Mull of Kintyre). It can be simpler to categorise two general types -the malt whisky made in the east of Scotland, e.g. Speyside, which tends to be lighter or "sweeter" than the other main area, island or western malts which often have an easily recognisable taste of peat smoke, taken up by the malt used in the distilling.

The traditions of distilling and maturing whisky have evolved through the centuries, using crafts passed from generation to generation in a continual process of refinement. Today our fine malt whisky is produced in distilleries located in the most picturesque of settings, close to the natural ingredients on which their unique flavour depends. Initially, whisky was praised for its medicinal qualities, and used for the preservation of health, and the relief of a range of ailments such as colic, palsy and even smallpox.

It became an intrinsic part of Scottish life - a reviver and stimulant during the long, cold winters, and a feature of social life, a welcome to be offered to guests upon arrival at their destinations. This increasing popularity eventually attracted the attention of the Scottish Parliament, which introduced the first taxes on malt and the end product in the latter part of the 17th century.

Ever increasing rates of taxation were applied following the Act of Union with England in 1707.The distillers were driven underground. A long and often bloody battle arose between the excisemen, or gaugers, as they were known, and the illicit distillers, for whom the excise laws were alien in language and restriction. Smuggling became standard practice for some 150 years and was considered acceptable.

Even churchmen made storage space available under the pulpit, and the illicit spirit was, on occasion, even transported by coffin - any effective means was used to escape the watchful eyes of the excisemen. Clandestine stills were organised and hidden in the heather-clad hills. Smugglers organised secret signals from one hilltop to another whenever excise officers were seen to arrive in the vicinity.

By the 1820s, despite the fact that as many as 14,000 illicit stills were being confiscated every year, more than half the whisky consumed in Scotland was illegal. This flouting of the law eventually prompted the Duke of Gordon, on whose extensive acres some of the finest illicit whisky in Scotland was being produced, to propose that the government should make it profitable to produce whisky legally.

In 1823 the Excise Act was passed, which sanctioned the distilling of whisky in return for a licence fee of £10, and a set payment per gallon of proof spirit. Smuggling died out almost completely over the next ten years and many of the present day distilleries stand on sites used by smugglers of old. The Excise Act laid the foundations for the whisky industry as we know it today.

A typical distillery visit would show the following processes. Barley is soaked to start it sprouting, then spread out on floors to grow, after which it is dried. This is called malting Ñ many distilleries receive their barley in this germinated and dried form. It is during this drying process that peat smoke will give the malt its flavour. The malt is then ground and hot water added. The resulting liquid, called wort, is held in a mash tun, a large circular vat, of several thousand litres capacity.

Water at high temperature is washed through and run off, eventually to leave a sweet, semi-transparent liquid in the underback or worts receiver at the bottom of the mash tun. (The solids remaining in the mash tun are known as draff and are dried to be used as winter cattle food.) This liquid is cooled and then added, along with yeast, to a wash-back, another large vat. Fermentation takes place.

The now alcoholic liquid, known as the wash, is pumped via a wash-charger into a wash still - a large copper still where it is heated. The vapours condense in a worm, a coiled copper tube in a tank of cold water. This distilling process is repeated, at least twice. The distillate is then run into a spirit safe. Here the expertise of staff is used to decide the point at which the still is producing the purest whisky - as both at the beginning and the end of the heating/distilling process, there will be impurities. Only pure distillate is run from the safe into a spirit receiver. From here the product goes to a spirit store, where water is added to reduce strength, then it goes into casks for maturing.

Oak casks previously used to mature sherry are sometimes used to give a distinctive flavour to whisky. These casks also add colour, though caramel is sometimes also added for this purpose. Whisky must be matured by law for at least three years. Then it either goes to the blender or is left to mature for several more years before bottling as a single malt.

In Scotland visitors will often find good-natured discussion on the "best" way to drink whisky, that is, with or without water, or with various mixers. Naturally, there is no absolutely correct way - though many blenders and others within the trade would suggest that the addition of a little water, preferably from a Scottish spring, helps bring out the complex flavour.

Some enthusiasts prefer their whisky neat. The addition of ginger as a mixer either as aerated water (Canada Dry etc.) or ginger wine is probably the next most popular mode, though not altogether approved of in some conservative whisky drinking circles. If your host offers you a glass of whisky, check, if you can, whether or not he or she is offering you an "everyday" blend or a more expensive single malt.

If a malt, recognisable by a single distillery name, e.g. Glenfiddich, Highland Park, Lagavulin etc., then your host may feel slight annoyance if you drink it with anything other than water. A "dram" or a "nip" both mean a "one-person portion" of whisky.Finally, the Scots themselves rarely call whisky "Scotch", a name almost exclusively used by outsiders.

The Glenfiddich Distillery, owned and managed by the fifth generation of the Grant family. Glenfiddich is the only "chateau-bottled" Highland malt whisky. Bottling at the distillery using a single source of water gives Glenfiddich its unique purity of taste.

Bowmore Distillery, another special island malt, with traditional floor maltings a major feature.

Glenturret Distillery, near Crieff in Perthshire, is the oldest Highland malt distillery in Scotland where whisky is produced in the traditional way.

Ardbeg Distillery, east of Port Ellen on the island of Islay, a noted centre for distilling, Ardbeg has all the special characteristics of the island malts.

Glenfarclas Distillery was established in 1836 and is proud of its independence. Enjoy a guided tour, then relax with a dram in the splendour of the Ships Room, or simply browse in the Gift Shop.

Clynelish Distillery, on the main A9 58 miles (93km) north of Inverness by Brora, Clynelish is available as a 14-year-old single malt and is also the heart of Johnnie Walker's Gold Label blend.

Glen Grant Distillery, founded in 1840 by the two Grant brothers, produces a light, floral malt whisky. Enjoy a tour and discover the delightful Victorian Garden originally created by Major Grant, where you can enjoy a dram in the heather-thatched dram pavilion.

Strathisla Distillery, home of Chivas Regal. Offers a self-guided tour of the oldest working distillery in the Highlands, founded in 1786. Old Blacksmiths Shop Centre The World Famous Old Blacksmiths Shop Centre at Gretna Green offers one of the widest ranges of fine scotch malt and blended whiskies from every whisky producing region in Scotland.

From Highland Park, the most northerly distillery in the Orkney Islands to Bladnoch, the most southerly, in the Borders. Visitors to the centre are always welcome to taste a sample from the wide range of liquers or to test the knowledge of the expert staff . The World Famous Old Blacksmiths Shop Centre is open everyday of the year. Telephone 01461 338224 for more information.

The Glenlivet Distillery, established in 1824 by George Smith, home to the world famous,12-year-old, single malt Scotch whisky. See inside a vast bonded warehouse where the spirit matures. Blair Athol Distillery, in the popular Highland resort of Pitlochry, this distillery was founded in 1898 and is the home of the biggest selling blended whisky in the UK.

Eradour Distillery in Pitlochry is the smallest distillery in Scotland.

Glengoyne Distillery, This is Scotland's most southerly Highland distillery and also the closest to Glasgow. It produces Scotland's only unpeated (i.e. without a peat flavour) whisky. Some distilleries to visit Distilleries are found in several parts of Scotland, including islands such as Skye, Arran and Mull.

Some distilleries make whiskies used only for blending. Some produce single malts. Many are open to visitors, with several having well-developed visitor facilities, including tours and tastings. One area with a very high concentration of whisky distilleries where visitors are welcomed is along the valley of the River Spey from, say, Dalwhinnie on the A9, the main road to Inverness, all the way northeast and downriver to Keith within a few minutes of the Moray Firth coastline.

A unique signposted Malt Whisky Trail guides visitors round some of the finest Speyside distilleries. However, no matter which part of Scotland you travel, from Glenkinchie, the last remaining distillery near Edinburgh, to Highland Park near Kirkwall on Orkney - the most northerly whisky distillery in the world, there will be a distillery within easy reach - especially if you go to the island of Islay in the west.