On this page we’ll show you some of the terminology involved in making, storing, selling and supping a Whisky. 
On the Distilling page, you can learn more about how Whisky is made and how some of the varieties in flavour are produced. 

Whisky: Alcoholic drink distilled by using fermented grain mash. 

Distillery: A location where alcohol is distilled. 

Distilled: To heat a liquid to purify it and then cooling to create condensation forming a purer alcoholic liquid. 

Malt: Barley or grain that has been steeped, germinated and dried.

Single Malt: A distillery using only their own malt, done to create specific distinctive flavours.

Blended: A combination of different Whiskies to create different flavours. 

Dram: Historically a measure of volume, an 1/8 of a fluid ounce. 

Mash: A combination of crushed barley with hot water to start the process of fermentation.

Still: A type of copper pot in which the mash sits. 

Pot Still: A type of copper still, most commonly used in making Irish Whisky. 

Grist: A grain that has been separated from it’s chaff ready for mashing. 

Irish: Whisky that is made in Ireland and uses a traditional method of using malted and unmalted barley.

Scotch: Whisky that has been distilled in Scotland and uses just malted barley in the still phase.

Age: Strict rules govern what is a Whisky. It must be matured for a minimum of 3 years to be called  a Whisky and the number on the bottle refers to the youngest Whisky in the bottle being at least that many years old.