Basics - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 32

MAKING MALT WHISKY
Malt whisky is made by soaking barley in steeps (water cisterns) for two or three days until it
swells, after which it is left to germinate for around seven days, during which the starch in the
barley seed is converted into soluble sugars - this process is known as malting . The malted
barley or “green malt” is then dried in a kiln over a furnace, which can be oil-fired, peat-fired or,
more often than not, a combination of the two.
Only a few distilleries still do their own malting and kilning in the traditional pagoda-style
kilns; the rest simply have their malted barley delivered from an industrial maltings. The first
process in most distilleries is therefore milling , which grinds the malted barley into “grist”.
Next comes the mashing , during which the grist is infused in hot water in mashtuns,
producing a sugary concoction called “wort”. After cooling, the wort passes into the
washbacks, traditionally made of wood, where it is fermented with yeast for two to three days.
During fermentation , the sugar is converted into alcohol, producing a brown foaming liquid
known as “wash”.
Distillation now takes place, not once but twice: the wash is steam-heated, and the vapours
siphoned off and condensed as a spirit. This is the point at which the whisky is poured into
oak casks - usually ones which have already been used to store bourbon or sherry - and left
to age for a minimum of three years.
The average maturation period for a single malt whisky, however, is ten years; and the
longer it matures, the more expensive it is, because two percent evaporates each year. Unlike
wine, as soon as the whisky is bottled, maturation ceases.

closes, “last orders” will be called by the bar staff
about fifteen minutes before closing time to allow
“drinking-up time”. In general, you have to be 16 to
enter a pub unaccompanied, though some places
are easy about having folk with children in, or have
special family rooms and beer gardens where the
kids can run free. The legal drinking age is 18.

from English “bitter”, heavy is a more robust, sweeter
beer with less of an edge. All of the big-name
breweries - McEwan's, Tennents, Bellhaven and
Caledonian - produce a reasonable selection of
heavies. However, if you really want to discover
Scottish beer, look out for the products of small
local breweries such as Cairngorm, the Black Isle,
Arran, Fyne Ales, Isle of Skye, Orkney or Valhalla.
Look out, too, for Froach, available mostly in bottles,
a very refreshing, lighter-coloured ale made from
heather according to an ancient recipe.

Whisky
Whisky - uisge beatha , or the “water of life” in Gaelic
- has been produced in Scotland since the fifteenth
century, but only really took off in popularity after
the 1780 tax on claret made wine too expensive
for most people. The taxman soon caught up with
whisky, however, and drove the stills underground.
Today, many distilleries operate on the site of
simple cottages that once distilled the stuff illegally.
Despite the dominance of the blended whiskies
such as Johnnie Walker, Bell's, Teacher's and The
Famous Grouse, single malt whisky is infinitely
superior and, as a result, a great deal more expen-
sive. Single malts vary in character enormously
depending on the amount of peat used for drying
the barley, the water used for mashing and the
type of oak cask used in the maturing process.
Malt whisky is best drunk with a splash of water to
release its distinctive flavours.

Water and soft drinks
Scotland produces a prodigious amount of mineral
water , much of which is exported - tap water is
chill, clean and perfectly palatable in most parts of
the country, including the areas of the Highlands
and Islands where it's tinged the colour of weak tea
by peat in the ground. Locally produced Irn-Bru ,
a fizzy orange, sickly sweet concoction, has been
known to outsell Coke and Pepsi in Scotland.

The media
When you're up in the Highlands and
Islands, the UK's national media may
seem London-based and London-biased.
Most locals prefer to listen to Scottish
radio programmes, read local news papers,
and - albeit to a much lesser extent -
watch Scottish TV.

Beer
Traditional Scottish beer is a thick, dark ale known
as heavy , served at room temperature in pints or
half-pints, with a full head. Quite different in taste