What are the differences between Scotch, Bourbon and Rye?
The most obvious difference between these different styles of whisk(e)y is the spelling, with Bourbon and Rye using whiskey with an ‘e’ whilst Scotch whisky does not use an ‘e’. Aside from the spelling there are a multitude of differences between these iconic spirits; everything from ingredients to production processes and aging.
Let’s start with Scotch. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland. All Scotch whiskies need to follow a strict process of production which requires grain, or malt, or both, to be mashed and fermented at the distillery by the simple pitching of yeasts, to then be distilled no higher than 94.8 percent ABV to retain the flavours and aromas of the primary ingredients.
The aging/maturation of Scotch whisky must be done in Scotland, in oak barrels not exceeding 700 litres, for a minimum of 3 years and one day. And must be bottled at a strength no lower than 40% abv.
There are four distinct subcategories of Scotch whisky; Single Malt, Blended Malt, Single Grain and Blended.
- Single Malt whisky must be distilled in batches at one distillery, from malted barley.
- Blended malt whisky is a combination of two or more single malts whiskies.
- Single Grain whisky is distilled at a single distillery however it is typically made from unmalted cereals (usually winter wheat and maize).
- Blended whisky is a combination of whisky made at both single malt and single grain distilleries.
Bourbon is an American distillate. Whilst scotch can be made with a variety of grains, Bourbon must be made with a minimum of 51% corn, which makes it sweeter than most scotches.
Other grains like barley, wheat, and rye make up the rest of the ‘mash bill’ (the mix of fermented grains that are distilled into whiskey). These cereals have different influences on the final character of the spirit, for example an increased proportion of Rye in the mash bill provides a spicy note, while wheat and corn provide a softer, sweeter note.
As the name suggests, Rye whisky is predominantly made from Rye, a grain related to both wheat and barley. Contrary to Bourbon, which is deeply rooted in southern American states, Rye whisky has originated in the northern states and Canada. Though regulations require a minimum 51% Rye in the mash bill, ratios of rye to corn can be as high as 9:1. The use of Rye give the whiskey a distinctly spicy and peppery profile compared to Bourbon.
Distillation
The distillation of most Bourbon, Rye and Blended Scotch whisk(e)y are similar, typically using column distillation to create a light spirit in a cost-effective manner. Single Malt scotch whisky however is batch-distilled in copper pot stills, typically twice, allowing the distiller to collect a broader range of flavours and aromas.
Aging
With any whisk(e)y, Scotch, Bourbon or Rye, much of the flavour is derived from the aging process, when the liquid extracts flavour from oak casks over years or even decades of maturation.
While there are some exceptions, the majority of Bourbon and Rye whiskies are matured in new, charred oak barrels. For this reason, both Bourbon and Rye whiskies tend to be sweeter than Scotch, with caramel, vanilla, maple, roasted coffee and dark chocolate flavours dominant.
Scotch whisky regulations are more flexible in this aspect. Whilst ex-bourbon and ex-rye barrels; used once by Bourbon and Rye distillers then sold to Scotch producers, are the most prevalent type of barrel used for the maturation of Scotch whisky, Scotch distillers can choose from almost any barrel previously used to mature wine of spirit.
This ability to employ an innumerable number of different cask types; sherry, cognac, wine, rum, port, to name just a few, Scotch distillers are able to impart a broader spectrum of flavours into their whisky as it matures. This is evident when comparing Kilchoman releases such as Machir Bay, predominantly ex-bourbon cask matured, with sherry matured Loch Gorm or our Madeira Cask Matured release earlier this year.
Minimum ageing periods also differ each side of the Atlantic, Bourbon and Rye must be matured for a minimum of 2 years whilst Scotch needs to be aged for a minimum of 3 years. Many whiskies are matured for 10, 20 or even 50 years.
It is another busy time on our farm. Spring is here and Islay has been seeing some good weather recently so this week we’ve taken advantage of the weather window and have been busy sowing the barley seed which will be harvested in late summer and used to produce our 100% Islay spirit.
Similar to previous years we are planting two varieties of barley, this year it will be one familiar variety, Concerto, which has been the backbone of our barley crop over recent years and one new variety, Diablo, which we’ve not grown on the farm before.
A couple of weeks ago we took delivery of the Concerto seed which is one of our mainstay varieties that we’ve been using over the years as we’ve found it to be one of the best performers in terms of yield, it seems to suit our ground and stands up well against the challenging Islay weather. Most importantly, the new make spirit from Concerto is fantastically floral and balances well with the other aspects that influence the character of our whisky such as peat, stills, yeast and of course casks.
This year our second variety of barley is LG Diablo and we are trialling this to see how it crops and compares to Concerto. LG Diablo, Diablo meaning Devil in Spanish, is advertised with the slogan ‘yields like hell’ so we’re obviously hoping this is true for us! It is a relatively new variety, but it seems to have good characteristics that we hope will suit our ground and the weather on Islay which is more than interesting at times…………
We will keep you up to date with progress over the coming months.
Due to popular demand, we have organised another online tasting event which you can take part in from home on Friday 10th April 6pm (UK time).
In this Tasting Pack there is a mixture of a new release, a pre release and cask samples to get stuck into as Anthony and James discuss all things Kilchoman.
* Fino Cask – 59%abv
* Am Burach Sample – 46%abv
* 100% Islay Bourbon Barrel – 55.3%abv
* Loch Gorm – 46%abv
The New Make ‘Sanitiser’ is a little extra thrown into the pack for you, at over 60%abv the spirit running from our stills can act as a hand sanitiser to kill off the germs pre tasting.
coming out in 2020.
With the 2020 Preview Tasting Pack you can taste along with your Kilchoman Glencairn glass as Anthony and James Wills preview the 4 limited edition releases coming out in 2020. Even if you didn’t manage to get a tasting pack, please still pour yourself a dram, join us and interact with the guys in the comments section during the tasting. Feel free to also ask any and all questions you want!
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT – Introducing ‘The Lockdown Whisky Festival’ brought to you live at home!
Join us, and 11 other fantastic whisky producers, from the comfort of your own home on Saturday 4th April 2-5pm (UK time) for a live virtual whisky festival on Youtube.
featuring 12 different whisky producers
The festival will be hosted by Roy Duff @aqvavitae who will lead Q&A sessions with each brand participating so get your questions ready and we’ll see you live next Saturday.
Set your reminder here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HXoLCGm6e0
Tune in for another Instagram live Friday 27th March at 6pm UK time. (Please note this is separate from the tasting packs that went on sale earlier this week, they are for the live tasting on Friday 3rd April).
Join Anthony and James as they talk you through 3 different Kilchoman expressions of 3 different ages….
– Spring Release 2011 (3 years old)
– 2010 Vintage (9 years old)
– Distillery Shop Exclusive Sherry Cask (11 years old)
Best not mention the ages of James and Anthony!!
It’s not often we offer the chance to get your hands on a bottle of our Distillery Shop Exclusive but with travel limited and the distillery shop closed, there’s only one way to get your hands on this Exclusive Single Cask… Trying your luck on our NFC labels!
Get hold of our core range Machir Bay or Sanaig bottles and on the back label you will find our logo to tap and enter the competition. The winner will be announced on Monday 13th April.
Android + iPhone Simply tap the logo on the bottle back label. For iPhone 7, 8 and X – Download the App and tap the bottle back label. Search on the App Store ‘Discover Kilchoman’.
Kilchoman Distillery Shop Exclusive
Age – 11 Years Old
Cask Number – 423/2007
Cask Type – Oloroso Sherry Butt
Strength – 54%
Bottles – 633
Exciting Announcement! Friday Night In With Anthony Wills….. Anthony Wills, Founder and MD at Kilchoman, will be live on Instagram for your Friday night entertainment!
From 6pm (UK time) on Friday 20th March, Anthony will be talking about the recent expansion at Kilchoman and what else is new at the distillery, as well as tasting through our core range of whiskies – Machir Bay, Sanaig, 100% Islay and a sneak peak of the upcoming Loch Gorm 2020 release.
If you have any of these releases in your whisky collection then crack open the cork and taste along as Anthony samples through the range, giving his insight on the ethos and blending of each one.
Feel free to ask him all the questions you want answered on Kilchoman and our Single Malts.
Go to our Instagram account to access the live event @kilchomanwhisky
KilchArd edition 1 was officially launched by ‘Bruce Wills’ at Whisky Galore’s DramFest in New Zealand last weekend. The idea was simple- two distilleries, two casks. Now we have a blended malt scotch whisky featuring a PX sherry cask from Ardnamurchan Distillery and a bourbon barrel from Kilchoman Distillery for this limited first edition of KilchArd.
Reeling from a busy Saturday at the London Whisky Show, Messers Wills (Kilchoman) and Bruce (Ardnamurchan) retired with friends and family for refreshments. Plans were hatched for a collaborative Hebridean blend of whisky and name. Samples were drawn, alchemy achieved, one cask from each distillery selected for this first edition of KilchArd. (Who knew Anthony and Bruce were such fans of the Die Hard movies!)
aka “Bruce Wills”
There are only 686 bottles released and they’re available to buy from our distillery shop, Ardnamurchan Distillery shop, Royal Mile Whiskies, Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.
“The odds of making a decent whisky are limited. That’s how we like it,” said Anthony Wills, Kilchoman and Alex Bruce, Ardnamurchan.
On Friday 21st February we were joined by family, friends, colleagues and local businesses as we gathered to celebrate the opening of our new still house and visitor centre. Despite the terrible weather, we were delighted to welcome over 150 guests, including some of our distributors from over 20 countries worldwide. It was a pleasure to have so many of our partners here on this special occasion, some of whom have been working with us from the very beginning. Thank you to everyone who made the journey to Islay. This is another momentous occasion for Kilchoman Distillery since first opening in 2005.
“At a time when I thought I might take a step back we’ve invested around £6 million in upgrades. That said, without an increase in capacity we would be heading towards a situation where all Kilchoman would be sold purely on allocation. With my three sons heavily involved in the business we want to continue building on the success of the last 15 years without the risk of running out of whisky,” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman founder.
We are delighted to have completed our still house extension. The new building, extending out from the gable end of our original still house, contains two new stills, a new mashtun and six additional washbacks which doubles our capacity to 480,000 LOA, though it remains to be decided what production level we’ll settle at. The stills and mashtun are an exact copy of the originals. We’ve been delighted with the quality of spirit, with no discernible difference in the character between the new and old stills. The new still house will give us the time and ability to experiment more during the malting process and change the peating levels, up and down, and look at the influence yeast varieties have on spirit character and follow specific spirit runs and monitor these as they mature in our warehouses.
The final phase of the current expansion project has been the completion of our new visitor centre, shop and café. In 2019 we welcomed some 30,000 visitors and each year this number is rising, so it is important for us to have space to accommodate the increasing number of people making the trip to Kilchoman Distillery. We converted an old stable building into a café and we are very happy with the end result as we’ve managed to retain many of the original features of the stables.
We then extended out from this to create a stunning open plan visitor centre that encompasses a shop area that showcases our whisky and branded goods, glass window tasting rooms and a bar where you can relax and enjoy your drams while sitting around a log burning stove. We are delighted to be able to offer an extensive range of our whisky, including some of our more limited-edition archive releases. The new visitor centre will be open 7 days a week from the end of March so make sure to come and visit us soon!
A visit to the famous whisky bar in Glasgow – The Pot Still
Kilchoman Comraich is a global network of bars dedicated to the enjoyment of Kilchoman single malt. In these bars you will find the finest and widest range of Kilchoman single malts, including exclusive Comraich bottlings.
The name Comraich means ‘sanctuary’ in the local Gaelic language. The ruined Kilchoman Church stands proudly half a mile west of the distillery and this is the location of the Sanctuary stones which date back to the 800’s. In medieval times such stones marked an area of ‘Comraich’ or sanctuary, a place safe from harassment and arrest. Kilchoman Comraich bars are a collection of sanctuaries, sheltered from the commotion of the outside world, dedicated to the enjoyment of Kilchoman Single Malt. It is only in these establishments that you can access the exclusive releases of Kilchoman Comraich batches. So far, we have appointed over 80 Comraich Bars worldwide. Find your nearerst Comraich Sanctuary here
Recently, while away on a Christmas shopping trip to Glasgow, I took the opportunity to go and visit one of these Comraich bars, The Pot Still Whisky Bar. It had been a very wet day wandering around the crowded shops, so I was more than happy to get into the bar and have a chat with the staff and customers and of course, to try a dram of the latest release Comraich Batch 3.
From standing outside the bar, I could already tell it was a popular place to go. There was a buzz about the place and the noise of chattering and laughter from inside the bar was being carried out on to the street. Even for an early Thursday evening the bar was very busy. I squeezed my way through the groups of people enjoying their drinks and got to the bar where I was warmly welcomed by the staff. It was lovely to meet them and put a face to the names on the emails going back and forth between us.
The first thing that caught my eye inside the bar was the spectacular display of whisky bottles filling every space on the shelves which go all the way up to the ceiling. The staff have to climb a ladder to reach the top! The total number of whisky bottles to choose from in the bar is now over 800, including 12 bottles of different Kilchoman releases. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, sharing their knowledge with customers who wanted some guidance in choosing a whisky. The staff pride themselves on finding every customer their perfect dram. The bar offers a wide range of whisky from all around the world so there really is something for everyone.
The Pot Still has been a whisky bar since 1982 and is currently owned by the Murphy family. They took on ownership in November 2011 with dad Brian, brother Frank and sister Geraldine. During my visit I was fortunate enough to meet Frank and have a chat with him about how everything is going.
Frank described some of the changes he has seen in the industry over the years. Interest has gone up so much in recent years, that it can be difficult for them to source the whiskies that people want. But this does not stop them trying to find ways to meet their customers’ needs. Whisky auctions are also causing some problems. Some bottlings are going straight from the distilleries to auction sites. They experienced it themselves with a limited release bottle that they did going on to an auction site a month after release and selling for £50 more than they were charging for it. In Frank’s opinion, whisky is made to be drank and enjoyed. If you want something pretty to look at you should go and buy a nice vase!
The location of The Pot Still is convenient for many people. Frank pointed out that being in the city centre of Glasgow, it is the closest city to Islay and Campbeltown, as well as a hub for getting to the other islands. In the week running up to the Islay & Jura whisky festival the bar sees people flying in from all over the world, often spending a few days in Glasgow as part of their trip. During the winter, they tend to get a lot of people on European city break weekends whereas in the summer they see people from further afield. There is always a mix of people. A lot of the time it depends on what’s going on in the city, whether it’s sport or music fans going to events or people in town for a conference for example. The central location is not only convenient for travellers arriving into Scotland, there are also lots of locals popping in for a drink after work or during a night out at a restaurant, theatre or cinema. And of course, there are the few regulars who pop in often. There are also familiar faces with people who return each year when they are in town. For example, the annual World Pipe Band Championships are another busy time with lots of enthusiastic musicians keen to whet their whistle! The constantly changing sea of faces, along with some regulars keeps the atmosphere of the bar exciting and interesting.
Making the decision on becoming a Kilchoman Comraich bar was an easy one for the Murphy family- 100% yes! With Kilchoman already being a popular whisky, which sells very well in the bar, getting access to exclusive bottlings only available in Comraich bars was a fantastic point of difference for them and the family felt it could only be a good thing. Frank feels that being able to offer customers a unique dram, that they can only try in a Comraich bar, from bottles that they can’t go out and buy a bottle of themselves, is a great addition to The Pot Still. It adds a brilliant memory to peoples’ visit to the bar and Frank is delighted about that.
During my time in the bar, some customers joined me in tasting the latest Comraich release, Batch 3, and feedback was very positive. A few people were happy to be recorded sharing their tasting and these can be seen on our Instagram highlights. When asked about the Comraich bottles, people liked the idea that it is something extra special and can only be tasted, as a dram, in certain bars.
For all whisky fans who are in Glasgow, a visit to The Pot Still in Glasgow is a must. The range of whisky on offer is fantastic, the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly and the all-round atmosphere in the bar is great. I will certainly be going back next time I am in town! Thank you to Frank and his team for taking time to chat with me.
The Pot Still is currently one of over 80 worldwide Kilchoman Comraich bars. For more information about our Comraich bars and where you can find them, click here to visit our website.
by Catherine MacMillan
