Whiskey

Whiskey, as it is spelled in the U.S. and Ireland, or whisky, is an alcoholic beverage distilled from one or more grains, chiefly malted or unmalted barley, rye, wheat and corn. Scotch (whisky produced in Scotland) and American bourbon are the two best known types of whiskey, but Canadian, Irish and Japanese whiskies are also popular.

I recommend: Find Irish whiskey terms at Tastings.com. Crown Royal is the best known Canadian whisky. Chow offers a Japanese Whisky Primer.

Pot stills and patent stills

The process of making whiskey involves distilling the wet mash of grains, or heating it slowly in water to undergo chemical transformation and remove impurities. Two basic types of stills, the copper pot still and the patent, or Coffey still, are used for whiskey. Whiskey makers are known as distillers.

I recommend: John Butler’s online Glossary of Whisky Terms provides detailed descriptions of the distilling process, including labeled diagrams of various types of stills.

Coopering

Whiskey is aged in barrels, not in bottles. The term coopering, or cooperage, can refer to barrel aging itself or to the preparation of the barrels. Whiskey barrels, or casks, are made from oak that is specially burned or cured to lend flavor to the whiskey. Sherry casks and bourbon barrels are the two most common types of whiskey cooperage.

I recommend: Go to Whiskeywise.com for more on the terminology of cooperage and whiskey barrels.

Age and vintage

Some whiskey bottles carry an age statement, which tells how long the whiskey aged in the barrel, not when it was bottled. If whiskeys of two or more different barrel ages are blended together, the age statement must reflect the youngest, or least aged, portion. Other whiskeys are designated "vintage," in which case the date reflects the year of bottling. Some carry no reference to age at all.

I recommend: Business Week offers insights into the meaning and use of age statements for whiskey.

Scotch

All whisky labeled Scotch must be produced in Scotland. Scotch whiskies may be malts, made solely from malted barley in a pot still, or the milder grain whiskies made in Coffey stills. Single malt Scotch is malt whisky produced by a single distillery. Single malts have unique characteristics, often marked by the smoky taste of peat fires used in distilling. Blended Scotch combines malts and/or grain whiskies for a smoother taste.

I recommend: Learn more about the history and terminology of Scotch whisky at Whisky.com.

Bourbon

The characteristic American style of whisky is bourbon, also known as Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. The grain mash for bourbon includes at least 51-percent corn, making for a sweeter taste than other malts or grain whiskies. Related to bourbon, but differing in the additional sweetness provided by filtering through sugar maple charcoal, is Tennessee whiskey.

I recommend: The FAQs page at Straightbourbon.com defines key terms related to the production of bourbon. For more on Tennessee whiskey, see the Jack Daniel’s website.